


Flight into Egypt 7:  Going Home

by Vickiemoseley



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 19:18:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 51,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16290260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vickiemoseley/pseuds/Vickiemoseley
Summary: Colonization has been averted; the agents are no longer





	Flight into Egypt 7:  Going Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 7 of my take on what happened after

Title: Flight into Egypt 7: Going Home   
Author: Vickie Moseley  
Summary: Colonization has been averted; the agents are no longer   
wanted criminals. It's time for the 'Hales' to go home. But what   
awaits them when they encounter their old lives?  
Category: MSM, babyfic, William  
Rating: Free for all (E for Everyone)  
Spoilers: Takes place after The Truth  
Archive: yes  
Author's notes: This is part 7 of my take on what happened after   
the motel scene in Roswell. It would help tremendously if you   
read the first 6 parts of the series which are located on my website   
http://vickiemoseley.freeservers.com/flightintoegypt.html  
I will be posting this story in chapters, one per night until they are   
all posted. If you are like me and hate Works in Progress, you are   
in luck. This story is complete and available at my website. Even   
if you read it as posted each night, cruise over to the website and   
check out the cool artwork for each chapter.  
Deep and abiding affection and undying gratitude: To Lisa, for her   
tremendous artwork and for beta reading and general cheerleading.   
Kisses and chocolate Mulders (complete with little bandages) to   
Mary Kleinsmith for beta reading and gentle nudging. Happy   
dancing Mulder clones to Dana Katherine Scully Mulder for   
translating this entire work into Portuguese and simulcasting it in   
Brazil. And last but not least, for super fast polishing, thank you   
(Aloha) Chuck! You four are the greatest!

Going Home: Chapter 1 The Arrival

Hale Residence Backyard  
Memorial Day, 2005

Flight into Egypt 7: Going Home  
Chapter 1 The Arrival  
by Vickie Moseley

Ten-month-old Missy was squealing as Megan pushed the infant   
swing a little higher. Sammi was content to sit on a blanket on the   
lawn, helping the youngest Hawthorne, Stephen, build an intricate   
castle out of Duplo blocks. Off to the side, away from small   
children and windows, Josh Hawthorne was teaching William how   
to throw a curve ball, with the middle Hawthorne, Patrick acting as   
catcher and giving advice. The men were busy with the grill, a   
new one that Mulder had just purchased. Scully and M.C. were in   
the house, putting the finishing touches on the Memorial Day   
barbeque that was fast becoming a tradition between the two   
families.

"So you're going to be gone two months," M.C. stated again, for   
the sixth or seventh time that morning.

Dana smiled indulgently and touched her friend's hand. "Just two   
months," she reiterated. "We haven't seen my family since Mom   
came out last year. My brothers really want to meet the kids. Bill   
and Charlie have never even met William and he's four years old   
now."

"But two months?" M.C. repeated. "I mean, when we go to visit   
my family in Chicago, I'm lucky if I can tolerate them for two   
weeks! And don't get me started on Joe's side."

"I know, it seems like a long time, but we have a lot of loose ends   
that need to be tied up. We have to meet with lawyers, settle with   
insurance companies, basically get our identities straightened out.   
And then there's the wedding."

"Ah, yes, the wedding. So Ellery is the best man and you're the   
matron of honor, right?" M.C. asked as she picked up a knife and   
started slicing tomatoes and onions for the burgers on the grill.   
"It's so romantic, you know -- your boss marrying his secretary."

"Well, Walter and Kim didn't start seeing each other until he wasn't   
her boss anymore," Scully reminded M.C. "And even then, I don't   
know that Kim thought he'd ever pop the question."

"Of course, I've met Walter, but what's Kim like? I mean, he   
seems pretty set in his ways. I'd hate to have to train him to be a   
husband!"

Dana laughed. "She already trained him to be a boss, what more   
could she need to do? Kim is really sweet; she was a good friend   
to us when we were at the Bureau. Besides, they deserve each   
other. Kim is very easy going, quick to smile. Walter needs that   
in his life. I'm very happy for them both."

"So let me get this straight -- you, Ellery and the three kids, your   
brother Charles and his wife with their two, your brother Bill and   
his wife with their two kids and Maggie all in one house. Dana,   
even our house wouldn't hold all those people!"

"We'll all only be at Mom's for a couple of days, MC. Tara's father   
lives in Prince George's County, Maryland, so they'll stay with him   
most of the time. As for us, we have a place set up, too. Walter   
and Kim closed on their house last week. Since Walter's lease isn't   
up until the end of August, we're going to sublet his apartment in   
Crystal City and he'll move into the new house."

"Great idea!" MC said with a grin. "When dealing with extended   
family, it's always best to have a nice 'fortress of solitude' to hide   
in."

Outside, the topic of conversation was similar.

"Two months. Your mother-in-law seemed like a real sweetheart,   
but two months? Are you sure you want to do this, Hale?" Joe   
asked, flipping a burger and almost landing William's hot dog in   
the dust as a result. He caught it with the spatula just in time.

"Maggie's not the problem. Dana's brothers will be there for a   
couple of weeks, too."

"Even that Bill character you've mentioned?" 

Mulder nodded. "And his wife and their two kids. Geez, we didn't   
even know Tara was expecting. She found out just after we, uh . .   
."

"Took off like Bonnie and Clyde?" Joe provided. Mulder shot him   
a sour look and tilted his head toward the kids. "Sorry, Hale,   
couldn't resist," Joe chuckled. "So what about the other brother,   
the one you say you never met. How could you two be married   
twelve years and never meet her brother?"

Mulder licked his lips at that one. "Charlie and his wife lived over   
seas all this time," he finally said with a shrug. "When he did   
come home, we were usually on a case."

"Well, it sounds like a hell of a vacation to me," Joe said   
dubiously. "Sure you don't want to stay here and let me teach you   
how to fly fish?"

"Actually, Joe, I'm looking forward to going back. I may not want   
to spend a lot of time with Bill, but I would like to meet Charlie   
and his family. Besides, I know Maggie misses the kids. It's going   
to be different. A lot has changed since the last time we were   
there. I think I can go back now, at least for a while. But don't get   
me wrong, I'm sure I'll be ready to come home when it's time."

Dulles International Airport  
May 31, 2005

"Tell me again why we decided to take a flight on the day after   
Memorial Day weekend, Scully."

She frowned at him. It had been a long, tiring flight. Helena's   
airport was calm and relaxing compared to Denver, where they had   
to switch planes. William had relished time on the airplane,   
demanding to sit in the window seat so he could look out at the   
clouds. Sammi had slept most of the time, but Missy was not at all   
pleased and had whimpered and sucked her thumb, refusing her   
father's offers to play. Scully's lap was numb from holding the   
baby and waiting for the high-pitched screams she was certain they   
would be forced to endure. But Missy never screamed, she just   
refused to take her nap and now she was even crankier than she'd   
been on the plane.

"Mulder, I'm still trying to figure out what possessed us to try and   
take a pre-schooler and two infants on an airplane without the Fifth   
Armored Division as back up," she growled. 

"Well, I can see where Melissa inherited her 'grouchy' genes," he   
muttered under his breath as he switched the finally sleeping infant   
to his other shoulder.

"I heard that," Scully replied as she stormed off in the direction of   
the baggage claim area, Sammi on one hip, William clinging to her   
free hand. "You're not getting out of this one, buddy," she shot   
back.

"Wait a minute. I remember an adult discussion where we   
weighed the pros and cons of driving just over 2200 miles with   
three kids, which even if we drove straight through would take just   
shy of a day and a half against dragging everyone through a couple   
of airports for a period of about 10 hours."

"I remember someone interrupting my bubble bath by joining me   
and somewhere in the extremely short introductory conversation,   
that person told me he'd booked flights already and we were flying   
into Dulles, my least favorite airport in the entire continental   
United States!"

"I got a good deal on the tickets," he countered with a gleam in his   
eye.

"You got a good deal, all right. And it's the last good deal you can   
expect until we have a bedroom all to ourselves at Walter's condo,"   
she replied with a sweet smile.

Mulder drew in a deep breath and plastered a matching smile on   
his face. "At least we'll have some place to hide out when Big   
Brother Bill arrives."

They had just passed the various construction barricades (because   
Dulles Airport would never truly be finished) and rounded the   
corner to the baggage claim when William pulled free of Scully's   
hand and ran shouting down the concourse. "Gramma! Gramma!   
We're here!"

Maggie, beaming, swept the little boy up into her arms. "William!   
Look at you! You've grown two inches since your last picture!"   
she exclaimed as she accepted the numerous kisses from her   
youngest grandson.

William wiggled himself free and latched onto Maggie's hand.   
"Gramma, the girls are big, too. Look, Sammi can walk!" He   
pulled at his mother's hand to let the baby down. Sammi looked at   
her grandmother with wide blue eyes and immediately nestled into   
the crook of her mother's neck.

"She's a little shy around people she's not familiar with," Scully   
explained contritely. "By the end of the week, she'll be glued to   
your hip."

"Oh, I remember. You never were fond of strangers, either,"   
Maggie said with a fond expression. "Not sure what to make of all   
this, are you, sweetheart," she cooed to the tiny girl who   
intermittently snuck a peek at the woman trying to get her   
attention.

"Ma-ma-mama!" cried Missy, awake from her too short nap.   
Mulder jiggled her and stroked her hair but the young lady was not   
to be dissuaded. "Ma-ma-mama!" A quick pass of the twins and   
soon Missy was settling down and Sammi was content in her   
father's arms.

"You two are pros," Maggie said, hugging her daughter and then   
Mulder. "They've grown so much since the pictures from Easter.   
Oh, I finally found a frame for that family portrait you sent. I just   
love it."

Mulder had been keeping an eye on the baggage carousel while   
they were talking and spotted the first of their luggage. "Um,   
Maggie, could you . . ." Sammi eyed her suspiciously as her father   
handed her over, but didn't bat an eye when she was finally in her   
grandmother's arms.

Mulder pulled a cart off the long line and started tossing bags onto   
it. "I hope I have enough room in the car," Maggie commented as   
she watched the luggage pile up. "Oh, I remembered to bring the   
car seats, Dana."

"Thanks, Mom," Scully said, relieved. "That saved us a lot of   
trouble. Three car seats are just not that easy to lug around."

"Don't worry about space, Maggie," Mulder chimed in. "We   
reserved a minivan for the duration. We'll just have to go over to   
the Lariat counter. You and Dana can take the twins in your car   
and Will can ride with me in the rental."

Maggie nodded and then stopped. "So, what do I call you now?"   
she asked. Her perplexed look caused Mulder to tamp down on   
any smart remark that comment might have generated. 

"Joe calls me Hale, MC calls me Ellery. But that's how they know   
me. I don't expect you to change, Maggie. You've always called   
me Fox."

"But when I visited last summer -- "

Mulder blushed and focused on the tile floor. "It was still . . . we   
were still getting used to the idea that we weren't being hunted.   
But how can I walk into the Bureau to pick up Walt for lunch or   
maybe just to say 'hi' and expect all those people who know me as   
Fox Mulder to start calling me Ellery Hale? It just wouldn't work."

Maggie smiled at him. "OK, Fox," she said with a quick nod. "We   
need to get home. I have hamburgers and hot dogs waiting for you   
to put on the grill."

"Daddy likes to burn meat, Gramma," William told her solemnly.

"I remember that, Will. Let's go to my house and he can burn   
some meat there."

I-95 heading to Baltimore, Maryland  
4:15 pm

"Where did you and Mommy live?" William asked breathlessly as   
he watched the tall trees and the set back houses along the I-95 roll   
past.

"Mommy and I lived in different parts of the city of Washington.   
Grandma lives in Baltimore, which is a city all by itself," Mulder   
explained.

"Did you live by Uncle Walter?"

Mulder shook his head and stifled a chuckle. William's curiosity   
was probably the most telling factor in his genetic background.   
"You know, we'll go visit Washington tomorrow and I'll show you   
where Mommy lived and where Daddy lived and then where   
Mommy and Daddy worked -- how does that sound?"

"And the zoo?" the little boy pressed excitedly. "And the baseball   
game . . ."

"We may save some of that for another day so the whole family   
can go. Tomorrow it can be just you and me -- just the guys.   
Mommy and the girls can get some rest after all the excitement of   
the plane ride." 

Maggie Scully's residence  
Baltimore Maryland

The place hadn't changed much in four years, at least as far as   
Mulder could tell. Four years. It seemed like a lifetime. He   
smiled down at his son as the little boy expertly unhooked the   
clasp on the car seat and climbed out of the Ford Freestar to stand   
next to him. It was a lifetime, to William.

"Wow, Gramma's yard is about as big as ours," the child exclaimed   
as he eyed the rolling lawn and big maple and oak trees.

"She has a swing in the backyard, too, buddy. I'll show it to you   
later. Right now can you give your old man a hand and grab your   
duffle bag on the top there?"

Between the two of them, William and Mulder got the luggage in   
from the car. "Where?" Mulder asked Maggie, who was holding   
the screen door for him. 

"You and Dana have Charlie's old room and the kids are right   
across the hall," she said, following him upstairs. He got to the   
first door on the left and dumped the luggage on the floor for   
sorting later. 

"So Charlie had a queen sized bed, huh? Funny, I don't remember   
that," he teased Maggie when he looked over and saw a new   
bedroom suite that replaced the twin bed he remembered being in   
that room.

Maggie grinned and lightly smacked his arm. "Fox, you know   
better," she replied. "I don't think you and Dana would have been   
very comfortable on that little twin bed. One of you would have   
landed up on the floor and I know for a fact that my daughter is a   
bed hog!"

"You got that right," Mulder shot back with a repressed chuckle.

"Got what right?" Scully asked from the doorway, carrying Sammi   
in her arms. "Where are the diapers, she's soaked. Oh, Mom, new   
bedroom suite? Looks great."

"I'll take her," Mulder offered. "You go help your mom get the   
meat ready and I'll be down to fire up the grill."

Maggie and Dana checked on William and Missy before heading   
into the kitchen. Maggie had a playpen set up in the family room   
and William had climbed in it to entertain his sister. They were in   
the middle of engineering an intricate structure from plastic blocks.

"He's so good with the babies," Maggie commented with an awed   
smile. "He must get that from the Mulder side. You four fought   
like cats and dogs."

"Oh, don't worry, Mom. He has his moments. Just a few weeks   
ago I overheard him talking with Stevie Hawthorne about the best   
places to sell baby sisters on the internet," Dana said smugly.

"Dana!" Maggie replied in shock.

"I don't think he would ever actually put them up for sale, Mom. I   
think he was just checking out his options."

"Maybe you and Fox shouldn't let him play on the computer quite   
as much," Maggie advised firmly.

In the kitchen, Maggie opened the refrigerator and pulled out the   
makings for salad, handing them to Dana. They quickly went to   
work.

"How are the Hawthornes?" Maggie asked.

"Oh, they're fine. Daniel is home from Iraq now. He's still at   
LeJeune, but he had a month's leave. Meggie is looking at   
colleges. I don't know what I'm going to do if she goes off to   
school very far away. We really depend on her for babysitting.   
MC and Joe are fine. The whole family was over Monday night   
for a barbeque. They're going to keep an eye on the house for us.   
Which reminds me, I have to call and tell them I have Millie   
holding our mail so they don't have to pick it up."

Maggie smiled. "Be sure to tell them I said hello when you talk to   
them."

Mulder joined them, carrying a much happier Sammi. "I'm putting   
the little mermaid here in the playpen so I can start up the grill."

"Good idea." From her place at the island counter, Dana had a   
perfect view of her three children playing somewhat contentedly in   
the family room. "I'll keep an eye on them."

The two women were quiet for a moment, until Maggie looked   
over at her daughter. "So, Mr. Skinner and Kim are getting   
married the 25th?"

Dana smiled. "Yes. Kim said she really didn't want to get married   
in June, but it was the only weekend available at her church.   
Something about a cancellation with another couple's wedding."

"Oh, dear. Did a couple break up?" Maggie asked.

"No, a couple eloped," Dana grinned in reply. "I guess the bride's   
father suggested it as a joke and the bride and groom called his   
bluff. They ran off to Vegas and got married in a wedding chapel.   
Kim said it's been the talk of the congregation for weeks."

"That poor mother," Maggie sighed.

"Mother? Why 'that poor mother'? Those kids just saved that   
family a ton of cash, Mom," Dana answered without thinking.

"That mother was cheated -- Never mind," Maggie said tersely   
and turned to rummage in the refrigerator again.

"Cheated how, Mom?"

Maggie leaned against the counter and shook her head. "I   
promised myself I wasn't going to go in to this," she muttered. 

Dana didn't think she was supposed to hear her mother's comment,   
but decided that she wasn't going to let it drop. "Mom. How do   
you feel cheated?" she asked, trying hard to keep the 'investigator'   
out of her voice.

Maggie looked up at Dana with tears on her lashes. "When you   
girls were little, your father and I used to joke about how much you   
were going to cost us. We always dreamed we'd have to pay for   
lavish weddings with hundreds of guests. Of course, as Missy got   
older and more . . . well, one time your father even said we might   
have to shell out for a wedding in Hawaii, on a beach somewhere.   
But after she died -- " The words caught in the older woman's   
throat and Dana ached to hold her in her arms.

"Mom," she said, stepping closer, but Maggie held her hands out,   
stopping her.

"No, listen to me. I know it's foolish, I know it's selfish, but I   
thought with you, at least, I'd have a chance to see one of my   
daughter's married. But you went ahead and did it behind my   
back. Now, you can tell me all about your problems and how you   
had to run away, I understand all that, but Dana -- "

"Mom!" Dana all but shouted to be heard over her mother's   
diatribe. "We aren't married!"

Suddenly the only noise in the kitchen was the ice machine in the   
refrigerator. 

Maggie recovered first. "But the rings -- you're both wearing   
rings."

Dana looked down at the gold band on her left hand; smiling as she   
remembered the day Mulder had placed it on her finger. Finally,   
she looked up and met her mother's stare. "It was for our cover.   
When we moved to Montana, we wanted to appear as normal as   
possible to raise the least amount of suspicion. Mom, at that point,   
we had no idea if there were bulletins out on us, our pictures on the   
10 Most Wanted. We didn't know if we'd find some never heard of   
actors portraying us on that FOX show one Saturday night, with   
John Walsh telling everyone to call if they'd seen us!"

Maggie's legs were just barely holding her up so Dana took her   
mother's arm and steered her to one of the chairs at the breakfast   
table. "Mom. It's not what you think. We just never got around to   
\-- what I mean to say is -- "

Maggie looked at Dana with tears streaking down her cheeks.   
"Why wouldn't Fox want to marry you?" she asked in a small   
voice. "I don't understand. Is he afraid of the commitment? After   
all these years -- "

"Mom, it isn't Mulder," Dana said with a sigh. "Please don't blame   
him."

Maggie's frown deepened. "What are you saying? That it's you?   
You don't want to get married? Dana, you have children, you   
brought three children into this world and you don't want to marry   
their father?!" The older woman started to rise in an effort to put   
as much distance as possible between her and her daughter. Dana   
caught her hand before she got very far.

"Mom, please, listen to me. Please," Dana pleaded. Maggie   
looked down at their hands and bit her lip. Finally she sat back   
down. 

"So, I'm listening. Explain to me why you'd ignore everything   
your father and I tried to teach you," she said, her voice steel, her   
expression hard though the tears still continued down her face.

Dana swallowed. In the back of her mind she remembered   
Mulder's words. 'It's time,' he'd said. But it had seemed too late   
and she didn't want to risk what they had, what they still had. How   
could she make her mother understand that? 

"Mom, Mulder and I are fully committed to each other. We love   
each other completely. There is never going to be a day when I   
don't want him next to me. That's marriage, isn't it? That's what   
it's really all about. Why do a few words and a piece of paper   
make that more than it already is? We have a life in Montana.   
People there treat us as a married couple -- "

"But you aren't married, Dana," Maggie said with a desperate sigh.   
"You aren't legally married. And you know what that means for   
those babies in there," she said, just barely getting out the words   
before her tears choked off her voice.

"I just don't see what the difference is," Dana said, her own tears   
flowing freely.

"You have lived on the edge of society, Dana. You and Fox were   
in horrible trouble. Mr. Skinner told me all about it when Agent   
Doggett and Reyes returned from New Mexico. He told me there   
were orders to execute Fox. I understood why you went off with   
him without a word. I can understand why you hid as you did,   
why you had to, just to keep William safe. I know all that,"   
Maggie's words, low but effective, poured out of her. "But Dana,   
all that is in the past. And you have a beautiful son and two   
beautiful daughters. Don't you think they deserve better? What   
will they say, when they're old enough to understand? Because   
right now, Dana, I'm looking at you and I don't understand. I don't   
understand at all."

"Mommy, I'm hungry! Hey, why are you and Gramma crying?"   
William stood in the doorway to the kitchen, concern written   
clearly on his four year old face. 

Hurriedly both women wiped their eyes, but not before Maggie   
had a chance to catch Dana's gaze one more time. "This isn't   
finished," she whispered. "Hey, William!" she said, happily   
turning her attention to her grandson. "Let's see if your dad has the   
grill going and we can carry out the hot dogs and hamburgers to   
him. How does that sound?"

"Goodie!" the small boy exclaimed, clapping his hands. But as   
Maggie turned to get the food out of the refrigerator, William   
walked over to where Dana was busily slicing tomatoes and laid   
his hand on her arm. "Mommy?" he asked worriedly.

She wiped at her eyes again. "Onions, William. You know how   
slicing onions always makes Mommy cry," she said with a forced   
smile.

The small boy could just peer over the countertop where she was   
pointing to a plate of sliced onions. When he looked up at her   
again, she knew he didn't believe her.

"It's OK, sweetie. We were just talking," Dana said, reaching   
down to hug her son. "Nothing's the matter. It's all right."

He nodded solemnly as he melted into her embrace. His   
grandmother's voice pulled him away.

"Ready, William? Let's go watch your dad burn some meat,"   
Maggie suggested. As the two left the kitchen, Dana sagged   
against the counter in relief. How much had he heard, she couldn't   
help but wonder.

Going Home: Chapter 2 Mulder and William go to DC

Maggie Scully's residence  
Baltimore, MD  
May 31, 2005  
8:30 am

"I'm all dressed!" William announced proudly as he stood in his   
grandmother's kitchen. He had on heavy jeans and a long sleeved   
shirt under his favorite Yankees sweatshirt. 

Maggie looked over from her seat at the dinette table across from   
Mulder and tried hard to stifle her laughter.

"Um, sport, it's going to be in the high 80's," Mulder squeaked out   
after almost choking on his coffee. "See what Daddy's wearing?"   
Mulder was attired in lightweight chinos and a short sleeved white   
and green striped polo shirt. "C'mon, I know Mommy packed   
some 'hot weather' clothes in your bag." As the two 'men' headed   
up the stairs, Mulder could hear Maggie's chuckles all the way to   
the second floor hallway.

They returned in minutes, William now in an olive green cargo   
shorts, a matching tee shirt with orange trim, and leather sandals   
on his feet. "You look very nice, William," Maggie assured him.   
She motioned him over to her and ran her hand through his soft   
chestnut hair, straightening errant locks. "You look so much like   
your Daddy," she said fondly.

"I'm surprised the girls aren't up yet," Mulder said, finishing off his   
coffee.

"Probably jet lag. They had quite an adventure yesterday," Maggie   
replied.

"They were up, you weren't," Scully said accusingly from the   
doorway as she homed in on the coffeemaker, bleary-eyed and still   
wearing her robe. "They woke up with the birds. I gave them   
some cereal and they went down for a nap."

"Dana, I can watch the girls today, if you want to go with Fox and   
William," Maggie offered.

"Not on your life, Mom," Scully said, sliding into one of the   
dinette chairs and sipping her coffee with a sigh. "Mulder   
promised me a day to rest after all the running around and getting   
ready for this massive expedition, and I am taking it!" 

"You'd think you planned and executed D-Day," Mulder laughed.   
The answering glare he received shut him up quickly. "Well, 'Ike',   
Maggie, I think we'll take our leave. C'mon, William, we're off to   
discover the wilds of the Federal Government!"

"But I want to go see Washington, Daddy," William protested.

"Same thing, sport," Mulder replied as he gave Scully a quick kiss.   
Taking his son's hand, he headed out the door. "I have my cell   
phone," he called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, it might actually work here," Scully shouted after him with   
a smirk.

"He's a good man," Maggie said, taking a sip of her coffee. 

"I've been saying that for years, Mom," Scully replied with a wry   
smile.

Mulder buckled William into his car seat in the captain's chair   
directly behind the front passenger seat of the minivan. "Where to   
first, buddy?"

"I wanna see your house," William replied after very little thought.

"I didn't live in a house, William. I lived in an apartment building.   
And we can't go in because I don't live there any more. But we can   
drive past it and I can show you where I used to play basketball."

William smiled brightly and clapped his hands. "Yeah, Daddy!   
Let's go!"

2630 Hegal Place  
Alexandria, VA

Mulder pulled up to the curb and parked the car. "There it is,   
buddy. That's where Daddy used to live."

William struggled with his seatbelt, finally unlocking himself from   
his safety seat. "You lived here? In this big house?"

Mulder chuckled as he helped Will out onto the sidewalk. "Well,   
it wasn't just me, William. See each of those windows up there?"   
He pointed out the windows in each floor of the structure. "There   
were two windows facing this side of the street in my apartment.   
So count over every other window. That's an apartment, like we   
lived in last year before your sisters were born, remember? So   
how many apartments were on each floor?"

William thought hard and counted the windows. "Four?" he asked   
slightly unsure.

"That's right" Mulder encouraged him with a big smile. "And   
there were four apartments on the other side of the hall. Eight   
apartments on each floor, five floors -- "

"A lot of apartments," William said in awe.

Mulder chuckled again. "Yes, there are. And the apartment I had   
only had a living room, a kitchen, a tiny bathroom and one   
bedroom. So the apartments are pretty little when you think about   
it."

"One bedroom? Where did I sleep?" William asked, a frown   
darkening his face.

Mulder toed the sidewalk. "I lived here long before you came into   
the picture. After you were born we all lived at your Mom's   
apartment in Georgetown." Mulder decided not to go into the fact   
that the three of them only lived there together a very short time. It   
was a tale best told to an older audience. 

The door of the apartment complex opened and an elderly woman   
with a wire shopping basket on wheels tried to exit. Mulder   
hurried to the door and held it for her. She looked up at him,   
startled.

"Agent Mulder?"

"Mrs. Sullivan?" Mulder responded to the older woman's inquiry.

"It is you! My goodness, how long has it been?" the older   
woman's face lit up with recognition and happy surprise.

"It's been about 4 years, actually," Mulder said, carrying the   
shopping cart down to the sidewalk. 

"And who have we here?"

Mulder beamed with pride. "This is my son, William. William,   
say hello to one of my old neighbors, Mrs. Sullivan."

William smiled shyly. "Hi."

"Oh, he is a charmer," Mrs. Sullivan said with a wink. "Just like   
his father, I'd dare say." Mulder blushed slightly at her comment,   
which, by the twinkle in her eyes, had been her intention. "So, you   
finally settled down. With that pretty little redhead, I assume?"

Mulder's blush grew but he nodded. "Yes, Dana Scully. We have   
William and twin daughters, just turned one year old."

"Oh, that's lovely," the older woman said fondly. "Well, you tell   
her I said hello. It's so good to see you, Agent Mulder. You aren't   
thinking of renting here again, though, are you? I don't think you'd   
all fit in one of these apartments."

"No, no, Ma'am," Mulder said with a wry grin. "I was just   
showing William the old stomping grounds. His mother and   
sisters are back at his grandmother's house in Baltimore. We're   
just out visiting."

"We flew on an airplane," William interjected.

"That must have been very exciting," Mrs. Sullivan said seriously.   
She turned to take hold of her cart. "It's been wonderful seeing   
you, Agent Mulder, but I have to get to the market. If I don't   
hurry, I'm going to miss my soaps!"

"Can we drop you? We have the car right here," Mulder offered.

"Oh, no, my doctor wants me to walk. But if you stay in the area   
long, do stop by again. Maybe bring your wife and daughters next   
time?"

"We'll certainly try."

They watched the older woman walk down the street, then Mulder   
looked up at the building again. "William, see the second row of   
windows from the top? Now count over four windows. Those   
two? That was Daddy's apartment."

William squinted against the sunlight glaring from the   
windowpanes and then looked up at his father. "Did you like that   
apartment, Daddy?"

Mulder was deep in thought staring at the windows, unable to   
detect the residue of tape that should have been there. Maybe the   
current resident was better at glass cleaning than he had been? 

"Daddy?"

"What, son?"

"Did you like it there?" the little boy repeated.

Mulder thought about his answer. "Sometimes. When your   
Mommy would come over and have pizza or watch a movie with   
me. But to tell you the truth, Will, I like our house by the Old Man   
much better."

William beamed at his answer. "Me too, Daddy. Me too."

They walked down to the park where Mulder used to take his   
morning runs and then over to the outdoor basketball courts. Kids   
were playing but Mulder didn't see any faces he recognized. Will   
started growing impatient and finally they returned to the car.

"Mommy's house next," William directed. 

"Yes, sir," Mulder replied with a mock salute, just to get his son to   
giggle.

Scully's apartment building looked exactly as it had the last time   
Mulder had seen it. It was disconcerting, remembering those last   
moments, holding her and William tightly against him, kissing   
them both one time, moving to the door and then coming back to   
kiss them both again. He felt an ache in his chest build just at the   
memory of that day four years before.

"Which windows were Mommy's?" William asked innocently.

Mulder had to swallow to get his voice to work. "Third floor, right   
on that corner," he said, pointing out the three windows on the left   
side of the building. "The window on the corner was Mommy's   
bedroom. That one next to it was your bedroom. And the other   
window is the living room."

"You mean you and Mommy's bedroom," Will corrected.

"Yeah, of course," Mulder replied, clearing his throat. "C'mon, it's   
getting close to lunch time. Let's see if Uncle Walter wants to join   
us and get hot dogs on the Mall."

"Yes! Hot dogs with Uncle Walter!" Will agreed, pumping his   
little arm in victory. 

Watching his son's enthusiasm, the dark shadows of the past   
slipped away and Mulder's smile returned to his face.

J. Edgar Hoover Building  
Federal Bureau of Investigation  
11:15 am

"I never realized how hard it is to find a parking space around   
here," Mulder grumbled just under his breath.

"There's one, Daddy," Will exclaimed, pointing across the street.

"That one's too hard to get to, Will," Mulder explained patiently.

"Do what Mommy does and turn in a big circle," Will directed.

"You can do that in Mr. Airy, Will. In Washington, a whole lot of   
people would get mad at you," Mulder reasoned. "Besides, I see a   
spot right up in the next block."

They parked and got out of the car. The Washington heat had   
cranked up a notch and Mulder was glad he wasn't in one of his old   
Armani suits. Will skipped happily at his side as they walked up to   
the enormous white stone and glass building that had been his life   
for so many years.

The door at the visitor's entrance had a placard explaining that   
public tours had been discontinued for the immediate future due to   
retooling, but Mulder opened the door and walked up to the guard   
at the metal detector. He was surprised when the uniformed man   
greeted him warmly.

"Mr. Mulder and little Mr. Mulder! Good to see you again, Sir,"   
the guard said congenially and handed over two visitor's badges.   
"Assistant Director Skinner has asked that you meet him in his   
office. Same place he used to be, sixth floor, right next to the   
bullpen. You remember the way, don't you?"

"In my sleep," Mulder replied.

"Nightmares?" the guard chuckled.

Mulder grinned and nodded. They moved through the metal   
detector, which William found just as fascinating as the ones in the   
airport, and headed for the elevators. Will's eyes were the size of   
saucers as he looked at all the men and women in suits hurrying   
about their business. He also seemed eager to see which of the   
people passing them had guns on their belts.

"Did you wear a gun, Daddy?" he asked as they walked the   
hallway toward Skinner's office.

"Yes. I had to wear it all the time I was on duty. Your mother had   
one, too."

"Was Mommy good at shooting?" Will asked.

"Too good," Mulder replied dryly, rotating his left shoulder. "In   
this door here, Will."

"Agent Mulder! Oh, I'm sorry, uh, Mulder!" a flustered Holly   
from Records greeted him as soon as they walked in the door.

"Holly! What a surprise! Hey, don't tell me . . . "

"Yup, I got promoted," Holly grinned. "AD Skinner plucked me   
out of Records. Can you believe it? I assaulted the man years ago   
and now I'm his administrative assistant. What a world, huh?"

Mulder smirked. "Well, the second year we were partners, Scully .   
. ." He was about to go into his story of Scully shooting him, but   
remembered a small person at his knee, listening with rapt   
attention. "Yeah. Anyway, it's great to see you. I assume we'll be   
seeing you at the wedding."

"I'm one of the attendants," Holly shrugged but her bright smile   
betrayed how proud she was to be included in the festivities. She   
leaned down so that she was eye level with the boy at Mulder's   
side. "And this must be Master William. AD Skinner has told me   
so much about you," she said with an ingratiating smile.

"Hi," Will replied, hugging his father's leg.

Holly looked up at Mulder again. "Kim wanted me to tell you that   
she's tied up all day with preparations for a big meeting the   
Director has on Capitol Hill. But she wants you to bring Agent, er,   
Dana and the kids back next week so she can give William a tour   
of the building."

"Will would really like that, I'm sure," Mulder replied.

"Holly, is that my newest recruit?" boomed a voice from the inner   
doorway. William turned toward the voice and sheer joy spread   
across his face.

"Uncle Walter!" he squealed and propelled himself into the   
Assistant Director's arms. Skinner hugged the boy warmly,   
picking him up and shifting him to his hip. 

"Will, you have grown so much! How are your baby sisters? Still   
trying to eat your toys?" Skinner asked seriously.

"Mommy says they're getting teeth, but it's a constant bother!" Will   
exclaimed to the sniggers of Holly and Mulder.

"Constant bother, huh?" Skinner repeated, shooting a glance over   
to Mulder.

"Yeah. Like when Daddy leaves his running shoes on when he   
comes in the house when it's raining. Mommy says that's a   
constant bother, too," the boy elaborated.

"Well, your father was definitely a constant bother when he   
worked here. I'll have to congratulate your mother for finding the   
right words," Skinner replied with a smirk. Mulder rolled his eyes,   
but wisely kept out of the conversation.

"Can you come get hot dogs at the mall with us, Uncle Walter?"   
Will asked excitedly.

"At the mall?"

"'On' the Mall," Mulder corrected at his former boss's confused   
look. "Will hasn't seen the Capitol or any the monuments yet, so I   
thought we'd go over to the Mall for a hot dog and walk around a   
bit."

"Great idea! Holly, I'll be back in an hour. If Kim calls . . ."

"You have your cell phone," Holly supplied. "Have fun, you   
three!"

Hot dogs and drinks in hand, the three strolled over to a park bench   
not far from the Museum of Natural History. Mulder helped Will   
balance his drink on the seat before turning his attention to his own   
meal. Skinner finished his hot dog with a contented sigh, leaned   
back and watched the interplay of father and son.

"So, how're the new classes?" Skinner asked as Will proceeded to   
wolf down his lunch, taking the peculiar route of starting to eat his   
hot dog in the middle and working his way toward both ends in   
turn.

"I really liked teaching clinical, surprisingly. I was sure I'd suck at   
it," Mulder admitted.

Skinner let out a snort. "Mulder, I can't honestly think of a single   
thing you ever 'sucked at', paperwork and ass kissing   
notwithstanding, of course."

Mulder grinned at the compliment. "Of course," he readily agreed.   
"But seriously, taking on the full load wasn't as bad as I'd thought.   
I'm home less, but Scully has the girls and Will in a playgroup   
from church and now that she's writing journal articles, she's   
happier, too. The college is already making noises that they'd like   
to get her over to teach, when the girls are a little older. Things   
seem to be settling down for good."

Skinner wadded up his hot dog paper and tossed it in the nearby   
trashcan. "So, the idea of maybe coming back, finishing what you   
started, never passes your minds?" He wouldn't meet Mulder's   
eyes as he recited this obviously well rehearsed speech.

"We found Sam, Walt. She's gone, and has been a very long time.   
As for the rest of it, last summer pretty much ended the threats we   
were worried about. We know we have friends taking care of us,   
at least working on our behalf out there. It was time to graduate to   
other things." Affectionately he ruffled his son's dark hair. "More   
important things."

"You know, we still get cases," Walter said evenly.

"I'm sure you have plenty of agents -- "

"That's just it. With the new emphasis on terrorism, there aren't   
any agents willing or able to look into cases that offer no rational   
explanation."

Mulder took a napkin and wiped at the corner of Will's mouth,   
where mustard gave the child a crooked yellow mustache. "Hey,   
wait a few years and you can recruit this one," he said, jokingly.   
"Seriously, Walt, thanks for the left-handed offer, but we aren't   
interested. Scully and I are happy in Montana, we have three little   
people who depend on us every minute of the day--there just isn't   
room for liver eating mutants in our daily schedules anymore."

"Well, if you ever find a few spare minutes in the day -- "

"I plan on using them to sleep. Or other more constructive   
endeavors," he said with a malicious grin.

"What I'm saying is that the Director himself instructed me to offer   
you a job -- strictly consulting basis only. But your expertise in   
this area is outstanding."

"Look, if you ever come across something that just grabs you by   
the short hairs, call me. Otherwise, well, some things are better   
left unexplained, ya know, Walt?"

"What are 'short hairs', Daddy?" Will chimed in at that moment.

It was Skinner's turn for a wicked grin, but Mulder seemed   
nonplussed. "Those are the little hairs at the back of your neck that   
the barber trims with the shaver, buddy."

"Oh," said the boy with a carefree smile. "Let's go see the pointy   
building over there," he added, waving toward the Washington   
Monument.

"You learned that skill of explaining on the fly on reports you sent   
to me, you know that don't you?" Skinner growled in low tones so   
as not to be overheard.

"Nah, I picked up that skill at Oxford. When I was working under   
you, I was at the top of my game," Mulder tossed over his shoulder   
as he hurried to catch up with his son. 

Wednesday June 1, 2005  
Maggie Scully's residence

Mulder was wiping off the outdoor furniture when he heard   
Maggie call out from the foyer. "We're back! Dana, Fox, they're   
here." It had been decided by Scully that taking the children to the   
airport to greet Bill and Tara's plane was just too much excitement,   
so the Mulder-Scullys had stayed behind to finish preparations for   
the family reunion to take place over the next few days.

Mulder waited until he heard Scully's footsteps on the stairs, where   
she had been making up the extra beds, before venturing back into   
the house. He'd spoken to Scully the night before and had vowed   
to keep his distance from Bill as much as possible. It was his   
partner's hope that he could avoid any unnecessary confrontations,   
although secretly Mulder knew that would be the most extreme of   
possibilities.

"Oh, my God, look at you! You look wonderful! I love your hair!   
Dana, you have to keep it long, it makes you look like a teenager!"   
Mulder recognized Tara's voice as he pulled open the backdoor to   
enter the mudroom and head toward the kitchen.

"Is this Julia? Oh, Tara, she's beautiful! May I hold her?" 

Mulder had to smile as he remembered Joe Hawthorne's reaction   
every time his wife, MC, had asked to hold a baby. He was pretty   
sure Scully was content with their three, but they'd also mutually   
agreed never to say never again. 

"Oh, my, she's so light! You forget how little they are," he heard   
Scully exclaim as he washed his hands in the sink.

"So where are the kids?" Tara asked. "Thank you for the pictures,   
by the way. I love the one of you and Fox holding the twins with   
Will behind you and his little hands on your shoulders. That is just   
so precious."

"Yeah, too bad the first time we actually get to see the kid is from   
his pictures. As I seem to remember, the only time we've seen   
Billy has been in his pictures." That voice could only belong to   
Bill Scully, Jr. Mulder forced down a flinch and finished drying   
his hands, still listening intently.

"Will, Bill. We call him Will," Scully corrected evenly.

"What did I call him?" her brother asked, feigning innocence.

"You called him Billy. Please don't confuse him. We call him   
Will or William, not Bill."

"But he's named after Dad, right? I mean Dad was called Bill."

"He's named after Mulder's father -- William, and although   
Mulder's Dad was also called Bill, we, the boy's parents, are   
calling him Will," Scully said in a tone that gave no quarter in the   
argument.

Mulder decided it was probably all shot to hell anyway, so he   
might as well make his entrance.

"Hello," he said, forcing a smile. Tara looked up and beamed at   
him, stepping forward to take him into a quick hug.

"Fox! It's so good to see you again!"

"It's nice to see you, too, Tara." Mulder disengaged from the hug   
and looked over at Bill, who was making no effort at all to extend   
his hand. "Bill," Mulder nodded, also refusing to offer his hand. 

"Mulder," came the terse reply.

"Mulder, meet Julia Annamarie Scully. How old is she, Tara?"

"Seven weeks on Friday," Tara said proudly. 

Mulder turned to peer at the tiny infant in Scully's arms. "Scully,   
her eyes look a little like the twins, don't they?"

Scully looked closer. "Yes, I think those are definitely Scully   
eyes," she said. 

"I'm just so excited that she'll have some girl cousins!" Tara   
gushed effusively. "My brothers haven't been much help in that   
department. The only one who's even tried has two boys and with   
Charlie's two boys, well, the pickin's were looking pretty slim. I   
mean, when we didn't know that you two were alive or anything   
and with William's adoption -- " She quickly lapsed into   
embarrassed silence.

Maggie walked in at that moment, hand in hand with a young tow-  
headed boy of about seven. " . . . and you can go out in the   
backyard and play with your cousin Will," she was telling him.   
She stopped talking when she noticed the strained quiet in the   
foyer. "Is everything all right?"

"Sure it is, just saying hello. Well, let me help you with the bags,"   
Mulder offered, breaking the tension. He reached for the larger of   
two suitcases, only to find Bill's fist already tightly wrapped   
around the handle. He looked up and caught the challenging glare   
from the older Scully, so he wisely chose the smaller of the cases.   
"Maggie -- er, your mom has you two and Julia and Matty set up in   
your old room, Bill."

"That's where we always stay," Bill intoned gruffly.

"Good, then you can lead the way," Mulder said dryly, waving Bill   
in front of him. They headed up the stairs to the backdrop of   
women's voices proclaiming the growth of young children.

Bill shoved the door open and dropped the bag in the corner. He   
turned and took the other bag from Mulder's hand. "I suppose   
you're staying here," he said evenly.

"Just for the night. Tomorrow we're moving to a place in Crystal   
City," Mulder said, not rising to the bait in Bill's tone.

"Yeah, Mom said you had money," Bill said with a sneer.

"Actually, we're subletting from our old boss, Walter Skinner.   
He's moved into his new house and he has three more months on   
his old lease," Mulder replied, using the same even tone as before.

"I just don't get it. Haven't you caused this family enough grief?   
Why in the hell didn't you stay in Montana and let Dana come back   
home to be with her family?"

Mulder stared at the other man for a few breathless seconds. He   
knew Bill was talking about more than just a visit, that he'd   
assumed his sister would come back east for good. Mulder just   
wasn't ready to get into that battle, but he wasn't going to walk   
completely away from it, either. "Scully is my family, Bill. And   
if you ask her, I think she'll tell you that I'm her family, too."   
Without waiting for any rebuttal, Mulder stormed out the door. 

End of round one and even Mulder had to admit it had been a tie.

Going Home: Chapter 3 Waiting for Charlie

Maggie Scully residence  
June 1, 2005  
8:15 am

Mulder awoke to find Scully wrapped in his arms and something   
warm cuddled against his back. Turning so he could look over his   
shoulder, he found that William had migrated from his cot by the   
window and was now sleeping soundly in his parents' bed. From   
her vantage point in the playpen, Missy smiled up at him and   
tossed her stuffed rabbit, just missing him. Sammi was still   
sleeping peacefully in the crib that blocked the closet door.

Mulder lay there a few minutes, trying to figure out the best escape   
route that would wake the fewest number of individuals currently   
sharing his sleeping space. He opted for waking the one least   
likely to demand he go down and make breakfast.

"Scully," he whispered in her ear. "Scully, can you move over a   
little, love. I'm stuck."

A muffled grunt, and her reaction was to stuff the pillow more   
firmly under her cheek and turn so her back was now toward him.   
For good measure, she scooted over a little more so that her bottom   
was nudging his stomach.

"Scully, it's an emergency," he whispered. "Bathroom," he added,   
hoping that would cause the desired effect.

She turned over again, this time on her stomach, but he caught her   
shoulders shaking and knew he'd been had. 

"You've been awake all along," he accused as she finally slid over   
so that he could crawl over her and out of the bed.

"You're just too easy, sweetheart," she said, not bothering to stifle   
her giggles.

"Mamama!" shouted Missy and soon another honey blond head   
popped up in the nearby crib. "Da-da-da-da-da!" echoed Sammi.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," moaned William as he felt the mattress   
move and his personal bedwarmer leave the premises. "What's for   
breakfast?"

Mulder returned quickly from his mission with the room down the   
hall and scooped up both girls, much to their delight. "Let's go   
downstairs and see what Gramma Maggie has in the cupboard. I   
bet we'll find something to eat," he told William.

"Make coffee?" Scully requested as she trudged off toward the   
bathroom.

"If it's not already made. You get your caffeine addiction honestly,   
Scully. I've noticed your mom has the same problem."

In truth, the coffee maker was just finishing its cycle as Mulder   
carried the girls down the steps with Will bringing up the rear.   
Maggie was at the counter, buttering an english muffin while Tara   
was seated at the dinette with a blanket modestly covering most of   
her upper body. Mulder recognized the fashion statement and   
knew a very young lady was already getting 'breakfast' under the   
cover of the blanket.

"Gramma, what's for breakfast?" Will asked loudly and Mulder   
cringed. 

"Will, don't startle the baby," he said quietly, pointing to Tara and   
the blanket.

Will immediately turned to look at his aunt and his expression   
changed to one of awe and understanding. "Sorry, Auntie Tara.   
Are you feeding Baby Julia mommy milk?"

Tara grinned. "Yes, William, that's all she can eat right now."

"I know. Missy and Sammi used to drink mommy milk all the   
time but now they can eat Cheerios, like me," he said seriously.

"I bet they like that," Tara said, trying not to chuckle.

"Well look what Grandma happens to have in the cupboard,"   
Maggie said, holding the cabinet door so that William could see   
what was inside.

"Cheerios!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands.

"Want to help me get the bowls and spoons?" Maggie asked.

"Sure, I'm a good helper," he told her and quickly pushed Maggie's   
step stool over to the cabinet, counting out the bowls. "Daddy, do   
you want Cheerios?"

"Sure, buddy. I'll have Cheerios this morning."

"What about Mommy?"

"I'm betting she'll want one of those english muffins your Gramma   
has there."

"I'll have some Cheerios, William, if there's enough," Tara chimed   
in.

"Oh, I have a whole unopened box if we go through this one,"   
Maggie assured her daughter-in-law. 

Will dutifully counted out enough bowls and carried them to the   
table, where Maggie had already deposited the requisite number of   
spoons. Soon, Mulder had a handful of dry cereal placed on each   
of the twin's high chair trays, with a sippy cup of milk, and Will,   
he and Tara were eating cereal from the bowls. Maggie smiled at   
them all.

"I'm starving!" came the sound from the doorway. Matthew Scully   
walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Are those   
Cheerios?" he asked, turning up his nose.

"I have other cereal here, Matty. What would you like?" Maggie   
asked, although she was already reaching into the cabinet for   
another box.

"Raisin bran," the young boy said with a firm shake of his head.

"Just like your father," Maggie said with a wink to Tara.

"You'd think all that bran would help your father's disposition,"   
Tara muttered under her breath, with a quick glance over at Mulder   
before she returned to eating her breakfast one handed.

Mulder dipped his head in acknowledgement of an ally, but didn't   
say a word.

Scully was the next to surface, freshly showered and dressed. She   
helped herself to coffee and one of the muffins, dropping a few   
more pieces of cereal on Missy's tray when the baby had started to   
reach for her brother's bowl.

"Morning Mom, Tara, family," she said with a wink and smile to   
Mulder as she reached past him to ruffle their son's hair. She   
pulled up a chair next to her partner and sat down. "What's on the   
agenda today, Mom?"

"Well, Charlie and Karen's plane doesn't get in until 4:30, so I   
thought we could go over to the new outlet mall and check out the   
sidewalk sales."

"They have 'another' mall here, Daddy?" Will exclaimed, wide   
eyed.

Mulder stifled a laugh at Tara's confused expression. "Will and I   
took in the Capitol Mall yesterday with our old boss, Walter."

"This is a different mall, Will," Maggie assured the little boy.   
"Like the one in Helena that you took me to when I visited you last   
year. It has toy stores and book stores and stores where I can buy   
you and your sisters new clothes."

Now it was Mulder's turn to look confused. Scully placed her hand   
on his forearm. "Mom wants a family portrait. She's hoping we   
can find matching outfits for the kids. At least the little ones. I   
don't know if Ben and Nate are willing to go along with the idea."

"It would be fun if we could get matching polo shirts for the adults.   
For my Dad's birthday last year my brothers and their wives and   
Bill and I had our pictures taken with matching shirts. It turned out   
really nice," Tara said happily.

Mulder chewed on his lip a moment, wondering where this strange   
custom might have come from but Scully was pressing her heel   
onto the top of his foot and he chose to refrain from making a   
comment.

"I have the appointment set up with the photography studio for   
next Monday at 1 pm. They promised it wouldn't take more than   
an hour. I told them we have small children in the party and they   
said they had the perfect photographer for working with kids. I've   
seen her work and it's really fantastic," Maggie said happily.

"Next Monday at one. OK, I think we can handle that," Mulder   
said, silently dreading the day. It had been torturous enough   
having just the five of them sit for a portrait at Christmas, he didn't   
want to see the chaos that having five additional adults, an infant, a   
young boy and two teenagers would invoke.

"Did Walter say when we could move in," Scully asked as she   
headed for another cup of coffee.

"I still don't see why you can't all stay here," Maggie groused from   
her seat at the table.

"Mom, at Walter's we can have a room to ourselves and we won't   
be eating all your food. Besides, by the time Charlie, Karen and   
the boys get here, you'll be glad we're not underfoot as well."

"You are not underfoot, Dana," Maggie said firmly. "I like having   
you all here."

"We will be here a lot, Mom. We just won't be sleeping here. And   
with the current bed situation, I think that's a good thing. Anyway,   
what did he say, Mulder?"

"He gave me the key, said we could head over any time we want.   
He's alerted the doorman to expect us in the next day or two. I   
don't see why we can't go over this evening after dinner."

"That soon?" Maggie asked, frowning.

"Mom," Dana replied, an eyebrow giving fair warning that the   
matter was not up for discussion.

"Let's get the kids ready and we can take on that mall," Tara   
suggested helpfully. Mulder shot her a smile. Tara seemed to be   
the perpetual peacemaker. Since she'd been a part of the family   
longer than he had, he respected her ability to put quarreling   
parties at ease.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. Fox, do you want to join us?"   
Maggie offered.

Mulder immediately took on his panic look and Scully kicked his   
leg and snickered at him. "Mom, I think Mulder wants a day to   
just lounge around the house, don't you?"

"That sounds really nice," he admitted.

"Well, Bill will probably sleep until 10 or so, so it should be quiet   
here," Tara said and Mulder couldn't decide if she was giving him   
a 'heads-up' warning or just dispensing information.

"I'll remember to be real quiet," Mulder assured her and she smiled   
and nodded.

Even with three women working full speed, it still took about an   
hour to get everyone out the door. Mulder sighed in relief as he   
heard the tires on the minivan pull out of the driveway. He got up   
and poured another cup of coffee and sat down at the table to read   
the Washington Post for the first time in almost 5 years.

After reading the paper, Mulder took his coffee outside to the patio   
and just sat in the sunshine. He itched to go fire up Maggie's   
computer, the one he and Scully had given her for Christmas so   
she could receive the countless photos and emails that Scully sent   
her to help her feel in touch with the family in Montana. But the   
computer was in the office that had once belonged to Scully's   
father and Mulder knew instinctively that Bill would hit the ceiling   
if he found his sister's partner messing with any of Captain Scully's   
personal effects. It was better just to enjoy the warmth and   
humidity that was a summer morning in Baltimore.

He'd dozed off until he heard the back screen door slam. Sitting   
up, he saw Bill looking around blearily, coffee cup firmly in his   
right hand, paper in his left.

"Oh, I thought everyone left," Bill said dryly.

"Not everyone," Mulder replied. "Your mom, Tara and Dana took   
the kids shopping for clothes." He made a point to call his partner   
Dana around her family but it still seemed like he was referring to   
someone else.

"Yeah, Tara said something about a family portrait," Bill huffed as   
he settled in at the patio table and spread out the newspaper.   
"That'll be a cluster-fuck if there ever was one," he growled.

"Your mom searched for a photographer that's good with kids,"   
Mulder said, mentally kicking himself for continuing the   
conversation. He'd promised Scully he would give Bill a wide   
berth and here he was, in direct engagement. She'd kill him if she   
found out.

"Mom means well. We tried something like this a couple of years   
ago, when Matt was a toddler. Just Charlie, Karen, the boys and   
Tara, Matty and me. Of course, at the time we thought we were   
the only kids left." Bill looked over at Mulder and tilted his head,   
waiting for a reaction.

"Well, I think I'm going up to take a shower," Mulder said   
suddenly and left faster than might be considered polite.

When Scully arrived back at the house, a little past noon, she found   
Mulder in the bedroom on the bed, reading an old romance novel.   
She held back her laugh as she sat down beside him.

"Mulder, you keep unfolding like a flower," she teased as she   
pulled the book from his hands.

"I was hiding. It was the only form of entertainment available in   
this room," he said, pulling her down for a kiss. After a moment,   
he noticed she was alone. "Where are the kids?"

"Downstairs. The girls are in the playpen in the family room and   
Will is helping Mom and Tara make lunch."

"Peanut butter and jelly?" Mulder grimaced.

"There's lunch meat for those of us with more refined tastes,"   
Scully assured him. "Why didn't you just turn on the TV in the   
family room?"

"Bill was down there. I thought it might be safer up here," he   
admitted.

Scully stood up and pulled him by the hand to his feet. "Don't let   
Bill bully you around, Mulder. You have every right to be here."

"Not in his opinion," Mulder replied. "Besides, why antagonize   
the guy? We're only staying here till this evening, I figured I'd stay   
out of his way and maybe we can avoid any 'sorry son of a bitch'   
declarations for a while. Or at the very least, postpone them."

"You aren't the only one he does this to," she said, hugging him for   
a moment. She looked up at his face. "It's probably the main   
reason I refuse to call William by the nickname Bill."

Mulder shot her a confused look.

"It's too close to what we called our beloved older brother behind   
his back: Bully. Oh, yes, Bill has a long history of family   
oppression and I'm getting just a little tired of it."

"And here I thought I was the only member of this partnership to   
have a dysfunctional childhood," he teased back.

"It wasn't dysfunctional, Mulder. It was fairly common back then.   
But Bill never quite grew out of that stage." She tugged on his   
hand, leading him toward the door. "But Mom is downstairs now   
and even Bill knows better than to antagonize her."

"Smart man," Mulder agreed with a grin.

Scully was true to her word. As long as Maggie was present, Bill   
acted civilly, if not overly friendly toward his sister's partner.   
Lunch passed in excited conversation between Tara and Maggie   
about the upcoming portrait, with Scully chiming in about the   
other items they'd picked up at the mall. As with most lunches   
with women just back from 'gathering', the men were left to   
silently add up their now burgeoning credit card charges.

It was early afternoon and Mulder was hoping to sneak into the   
family room and see if the Yankees game could be found on   
ESPN. To his consternation, Bill had beaten him to the set.   
"Mom! When are you gonna install that damned Dish!" he yelled   
as he tried and failed to locate his preferred channel.

"When I start spending more than thirty minutes in front of it each   
night watching the news," was her terse reply from the kitchen.

"Damn. Well, we have a choice between the Braves in Chicago or   
Houston in Milwaukee," Bill muttered, somewhat in Mulder's   
direction. Both men issued matching sighs.

"Wait, there's soccer," Mulder pointed out before the channel   
switched again. Bill shrugged apathetically and flopped down on   
the big recliner, most likely his father's chair. Mulder settled in on   
the sofa. At least he was secure in the knowledge that Maggie was   
just a few feet away in the kitchen. He felt like a total idiot, or   
worse yet, an 8 year old constantly wanting to stay close to his   
mommy, but it did make him feel less uncomfortable to know that   
his partner and her mother were there to hear any altercations.

By mid afternoon, Bill was dozing and Mulder was falling asleep.   
It was quiet and peaceful. He could hear Matthew and William   
playing in the backyard. The girls were probably down for their   
naps. He had no idea what was going on in the kitchen but it   
seemed to entail a great deal of chopping, stirring and an   
occasional clank of metal pots and pans. 

He was just drifting off to sleep when he felt the cushions on the   
sofa dip. A small hand brushed the hair off his forehead and a soft   
kiss was placed right below his left ear. He shook off his   
drowsiness, but without opening his eyes, he pulled his partner   
onto his lap.

"I thought you were asleep," she whispered so as not to wake up   
the sleeping bear in the recliner.

"Just about. In my dreams, this delicious nymph came by and   
started kissing me," he whispered in reply as he opened his eyes to   
smile at her.

"A cute nymph?" she asked with a raised brow over the twinkle in   
her eye.

"The cutest. Damn sexy, too. Excuse me, I want to get back to   
her," and he promptly closed his eyes, feigning sleep.

She took that as her cue and started kissing him all over his face   
and neck. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, about to embark   
on returning the attention when a growl from the recliner startled   
them both.

"Get a room!" Bill slurred.

"Get a life," Scully quickly responded, but the mood was broken   
and Mulder felt her tense in his arms.

"Then go upstairs," Bill countered. 

"We can't. The girls are upstairs taking a nap in our room," Scully   
shot back, her arms crossing her chest. "And besides, this isn't   
your room, either, Bill."

Mulder groaned at that last comment. He recognized it for what it   
was -- a shot across the bow. "Scully . . ."

"Well, it's more my room than yours, little sister," Bill said with a   
lowered voice that made Mulder want to hide behind the sofa.

"Since when?" Scully challenged. 

Mulder looked around the room, noting where sharp and heavy   
objects might lie within reach and wondering if either combatant   
would focus on him if he tried to remove them.

"Since you ran off and played dead for two years, that's when!"   
Bill spat. "What, you think you can just waltz in here like nothing   
happened? Do you know the grief you caused this family -- the   
grief HE caused this family? How you can even show your face in   
this house is beyond me!"

Scully's eyes narrowed and Mulder knew whatever silence there   
was in the room was simply the eye of the hurricane passing over.   
The back half of the storm was about to unleash.

"You sanctimonious son of a bitch," she seethed. "How dare you   
sit there in our father's chair and talk to me like that. I did what I   
had to do to keep my family safe and I would do it all again if need   
be. You have no idea what I went through, what Mulder has gone   
through, because if you did you'd be down on your knees in   
gratitude. We saved your life, you asshole! Your life and the lives   
of your family."

"By bustin' him out of prison?" Bill laughed, but there was more   
menace than hilarity in the sound. "Oh, that's rich. What are you   
going to tell me, Dana? Gonna try to tell me about how he was   
abducted by aliens, how he died and then was raised from the   
dead? Mom might believe that load of shit, but I'm not buying it   
for minute!"

"You were never here to see any of it, Bill! You're just like Dad,   
never there when you're needed!" The shock of her words hit her   
before the last syllable had left her mouth. Mulder reached for her   
shoulder but she shrugged away, her hand to her lips as if hoping   
to stop any more heresy from escaping as she ran from the room.   
Bill stood in stunned silence and then glared at Mulder before   
leaving the room, but turning in the opposite direction as his sister.   
Mulder heard the screen door slam at the same time as hurried   
footsteps sounded on the stairs leading to the second floor.

Tara stood in the doorway, chewing her lip. "What was that all   
about?" she asked cautiously.

"Sibling rivalry?" Mulder tried for a joke but realized it was   
hopeless. "You better go find Bill. I'll talk to Dana."

"This is going to be a long vacation for us, isn't it, Fox?" Tara   
offered with a sad smile.

Mulder took a deep breath and nodded.

Scully was throwing clothes into one of the suitcases when he   
made it up to their room. The babies were still sleeping, but she   
didn't seem concerned about waking them as she grabbed diaper   
wipes and toys and shoved them in bags. He caught her hands, but   
she pulled out of his grasp.

"We're going home," she said through clenched teeth. 

"And not see Charlie? And skip out on Walter and Kim at their   
wedding? And who exactly is going to tell your mom?" he asked   
quietly as he sat on the bed, watching her frantically clear the room   
of their possessions.

She swallowed several times and then sat down next to him on the   
bed. "He makes me . . . there are just times I want to . . . "

"Shoot him?" he asked in perfect deadpan, but his eyes gave him   
away.

"No. I don't like him that much," she shot back, but he'd   
succeeded in getting her to calm down a little. "Mulder, I can't   
stay under the same roof as that man," she said tersely.

"I know. I understand. But this isn't just about you and Bill. This   
is about William, Missy and Sammi. This is about Charlie and his   
family, Tara, Matty and Julia. But mostly, this is about your mom,   
Scully. She's been through so much and all she's asking is for us to   
get along for a couple of weeks." He put his arm around her   
shoulders and hugged her to him. "I know it's hard, but we have to   
find a way to make it work."

She nodded slowly. "I know, Mulder. And you're right." She   
punched him lightly on the arm when he grinned at her. "Don't get   
a big head about it," she warned. "But quite frankly, this house   
just isn't big enough for Bill and me. I think we need to get over to   
Walter's apartment as soon as possible."

"It sounded like you were making enough food to feed the Seventh   
Cavalry, Scully. I think we're morally obligated to stay until after   
dinner." 

"OK, but the minute the dinner dishes are done, we're out of here!"   
she growled. He smiled at her angry expression and kissed her on   
the nose. She kissed him back, on the lips. He put his arms around   
her, pushing her back on the bed and proceeded to kiss her with all   
the passion he could muster.

"Da-da-da-da," sang Sammi as she stood up in the playpen. 

Scully pushed against him and reluctantly he let her up. "Who   
needs a dry diaper?" she cooed as she picked up the cherub faced   
little girl, still warm from her nap.

"Mama, mama," called out Missy and Mulder picked her up,   
carrying her over to lie her next to her sister on the bed. 

"So, Scully, wanna race? First one finished with the diapering   
wins?"

"You are so gonna lose this one, Mulder," she told him. This time,   
she was right.

"Dana, I wish you'd reconsider. Charlie is going to be heartbroken   
if you're not here," Maggie pleaded with her daughter as Mulder   
took the last of their luggage out to the minivan.

"I wish their plane hadn't been delayed, too. But Mom, we're just   
going to Arlington. Crystal City Place is no more than an hour   
away and we will always be traveling opposite rush hour. I   
promise we'll be back here tomorrow before 11 and we'll all have   
lunch and then do something together, maybe take the kids to the   
park."

"I hate it when you kids fight, I always have," Maggie choked out   
through her tears.

"I know and I'm really sorry. But believe me, this is for the best.   
You have the number of the condo and you have my cell and   
Mulder's. If something comes up or you need to confer with us on   
plans, just give us a call."

"He's stubborn, but he loves you," Maggie insisted. "He's just   
being a big brother."

Scully gave her mother a resigned smile. "We'll see you   
tomorrow, Mom. I promise."

"The kids are all buckled in," Mulder said sheepishly. "We better   
get going."

Maggie gave her a hug and kiss. She waved at Mulder, who was   
standing by the car in sight of the children. She stood on the porch   
and watched them as they pulled out of the driveway and down the   
street. Only when they turned the corner did she finally step back   
into the house.

Going Home: Chapter 4 Family

Crystal City Place  
Apartment 1210  
Arlington, VA  
9:30 pm

The doorman had been most helpful, giving Mulder directions to   
the underground parking space and coming down to help them   
with their luggage. William was impressed with the elevator and   
decided that he would be the official elevator operator for the time   
they lived in the condo.

Not much had changed since the last time Mulder and Scully had   
stepped foot in their former superior's home. The personal effects   
were gone, but there had been few of them before. His desk was   
missing, but aside from that the place still housed a good deal of   
furniture. Skinner had assured Scully that the furniture was   
staying with the apartment. Kim's furniture was now in the new   
house and what she didn't have, they intended to purchase.

When they walked into the second bedroom, they were all in for a   
surprise. A youth bed, complete with Thomas the Tank Engine   
comforter and two cribs were neatly arranged along the walls,   
along with a changing table. There was a note on the bed, in Kim's   
handwriting.

"Just wanted to make sure you had everything you and the children   
needed to be comfortable. When you're done with these items,   
Walt and I hope to put them to good use -- at least one of the cribs.   
Enjoy your time here. Love, Kim."

"Think Skinner's knows she's thinking of starting their family?"   
Mulder asked with a wink.

"I'm thinking it was probably Walter's idea," Scully replied with a   
knowing look. "He's waited this long, I don't think the man wants   
to waste any more time."

"Sounds like she's in agreement," Mulder said with a nod. "Well,   
this means we don't have to set up the portacribs," he added,   
putting the items in the closet along with the now empty luggage.   
"We can take these back to your mom's tomorrow."

Scully walked out of the room, but not before Mulder heard her   
heavy sigh. He finished unloading diapers and wipes and followed   
her out to the living room where she stood at the French doors   
looking out on the lights of the city.

"Scully?" he asked and put his hands on her shoulders. She   
shrugged out of his hold and stooped to pick up one sleeping baby   
from the end of the couch. "Get Missy for me, please?" she asked.   
Missy was sleeping soundly on the other end of the couch; with   
Will half under the coffee table. "They just dropped the minute we   
got in the door," she said affectionately as they carried the infants   
in to place them in the cribs. 

Scully, we will talk about this, Mulder vowed to himself. For the   
time being, he let her fuss with the children, tucking them in and   
leaving on the nightlight in their room. Meanwhile, he discovered   
his own little 'welcome home' gift -- a six-pack of Rolling Rock in   
the fridge and a box of microwave popcorn on the counter. He put   
some popcorn in and set the timer, pulling out two of the beers and   
opening the tops. He leaned against the countertop, watching the   
popcorn bag expand through the door of the oven and was startled   
when he heard the chime of the intercom with the front door.

It took him a minute to figure out how to use the intercom, but   
finally the doorman's voice came through. "Mr. Mulder, this is   
George down at the front door. There's a Mr. Charles Scully down   
here, says he knows your wife. Should I let him up?"

Mulder tensed for a second. Charlie was here? Had he come to   
take his sister back to their mother's house? It was almost 10   
o'clock at night and the man had been trapped in airports all day   
long? What was he doing at their apartment? 

"Mr. Mulder?" came George's voice again, questioning.

"Uh, sorry, this is a confusing contraption here, George," Mulder   
covered for his delay. "Yeah, of course. That's my, uh, my wife's   
brother. Please, send him up."

"Sure thing, Mr. Mulder. He's on his way."

Mulder still had the two beers in his hand when he heard the knock   
at the door. He opened it to find a man about his height with dark   
auburn hair, like Scully's sister, but the same blue eyes Mulder   
knew from his partner and their own children. 

"OK, to hell with Bill and what he thinks, you're my kind of guy,   
Mulder," Charlie said affably as he extracted one of the beers from   
the former agent's hand.

Mulder had to laugh, and immediately knew the other man wasn't   
there to abscond with his partner. "Charlie, I presume."

"The one and only, at least in this family. Thanks very much for   
naming the kid after the mean brother, by the way," Charlie said   
with a smirk as Mulder led him into the living room. "Wow, when   
Mom said you guys had a nice set up, I wasn't sure what to expect.   
This place must rent in the six figures!"

"We're just subletting it, from our old boss, actually," Mulder said,   
settling on the sofa.

"The guy who's getting married. Yeah, I heard. Still, I wish we   
could have snagged a deal like this. Instead I have to put up with   
all the 'bill-shit'," Charlie said, chugging down a third of his beer.   
"Rolling Rock. Good stuff."

There was a shuffling in the hallway and suddenly Scully,   
clutching a tissue and sporting red-rimmed eyes appeared in the   
doorway. "Charlie?" she said, surprised.

He stood up and opened his arms and in the time it took her to run   
across the room she was hugging him for dear life. "I'm so glad to   
see you, Chuckles!"

"You too, Dynamite," he said affectionately and hugged her   
harder. 

"What are you doing here? Where are Karen and the boys?"   
Scully asked, still holding on with both arms.

Charlie pushed and wiggled and finally had her sitting next to him   
of the couch, not letting go of her hands. "Back at Mom's. I   
wanted to see you. I wanted to make sure you're OK."

"I'm fine," she said, with a quick glance to Mulder. "Really," she   
said defiantly, but she still had to sniff back some tears.

"Don't let him do this to us, Dana," Charlie said quietly. "Don't let   
Bill ruin this reunion for us."

"How about another beer, Charlie?" Mulder asked, seeking an   
escape so that brother and sister could have a little time.

"Uh, better make that a soft drink, I have to drive back," Charlie   
said with a lop-sided grin.

"One water, coming up. I think that's all we're equipped for right   
now," he explained. "Unless you want toddler apple juice."

Charlie grimaced. "No, I've lived past those days, thankfully.   
Water sounds fine. Thanks."

Mulder took his time with the water, even finding a jug in the   
cabinet and filling it with some water to place in the refrigerator.   
He found a bowl in the cupboard and dumped the now finished   
popcorn in it. Finally, he made his way out to the living room to   
find his partner looking calmer, but not completely relaxed.   
Charlie smiled when he saw Mulder and reached for the glass.

"Thanks," he said, taking a sip and putting the glass down on the   
coffee table. "So, you're the big hairy monster Bill's always telling   
me about," he grinned in Mulder's direction.

"Well, I don't know about 'hairy'," Mulder scoffed with a twinkle   
in his eye. 

"Don't worry. Bill and I have been on opposite ends of the world   
for a long time. He was the oldest, the responsible one. I'm the   
irresponsible baby of the family."

"Irresponsible, my eye!" Scully disagreed. "You were married at   
18 -- "

"Because we had to, if you remember," Charlie interjected.

"You worked your way through college, entered the Navy with a   
Commission -- "

"But I'm still not the same rank as Billy boy. Don't think that   
doesn't irk to have to salute my own brother," he chimed in again.

"Charlie, you have a wife who adores you, two sons any man   
would be proud to call his own -- Ben was just accepted to   
Annapolis. Mom told me last night."

"They're good kids, but most of that is Karen's doing. I'm just the   
guy who shows up every three months or so."

"Charlie is a submariner," Scully explained.

"So that's why we never saw you," Mulder finally got a word in.

Charlie laughed. "Well, that and we really didn't try too hard to get   
home," he said, chewing on his lip. "We came home for Dad's   
funeral -- the kids were younger and it was a rough trip. After that,   
we sort of never got around to it."

"You sent flowers," Scully reminded him. "When Missy died,   
after Emily, even at Mulder's -- " She stopped, unable to speak of   
the time when she'd buried her partner. Mulder grabbed her hand   
and squeezed it, pulling her closer to him. She leaned into him for   
a moment before speaking again. "We missed you, Chuckles."

"But you've been back recently," Mulder said, thinking of Bill's   
comment about the family portrait.

"Karen talked me into it. Especially after you two, uh, well,   
dropped off the face of the earth."

"Charlie, we had no choice -- "

"Dana, believe me, I'm not here to place blame or judge. I've done   
some stuff in my time that I'm not very proud of and some things   
that would take several hours to explain. I'm just glad it's all   
resolved and you two can come home again. I just wish . . . "

"Charles Benjamin Scully, don't you dare try that guilt shit on me,"   
Scully growled suddenly from the protection of Mulder's arms.   
"Don't you dare come here and -- "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa down Nellie!" Charlie interrupted throwing   
his hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot the piano player! Geez,   
Dana, I'm not the bad guy here, remember?" He waited to see if   
the fire had dimmed in his sister's eyes before he continued.   
"Look, I of all people know what a sanctimonious asshole Bill can   
be."

"If you're looking for someone to disagree, you're in the wrong   
apartment," Mulder offered.

"But there are others to consider," Charlie continued.

Scully got up from the couch and paced over to the glass doors   
leading to the balcony. "Did you and Mulder compare notes or   
something?" she hissed, but it didn't have the anger of her earlier   
statements. She sighed, but finally turned to face them. "I suppose   
you have a plan?"

Charlie grinned, ear to ear. "Well, I can't claim all the credit.   
Mom had a part in it, too. Friday night, we're going out to dinner,   
just the six of us. Bill, Tara, you two, Karen and me."

"Why can't your mom come?" Mulder asked, realizing that it might   
have sounded like a whine. "Your sons are old enough to watch   
the kids."

"Because it needs to be just us -- just the six of us. Mom has   
agreed to stay home with the kids. Ben and Nate are great guys,   
don't get me wrong, but they haven't had much experience with   
diapers and bottles and infants younger than a year old. I'm sure   
Tara would feel more comfortable leaving Julia with Mom than   
with my sons. I know I would," Charlie admitted. "Besides,   
Mulder, when Bill sees that he's the only one still holding on to the   
grudge he thinks we're all supposed to have against you, he'll drop   
it. Bill is a 'team player'; he hates being the odd man out. He'll get   
with the program. And besides, if we're in a restaurant, well, he's   
always Mr. Proper. He wouldn't dare kick up a fuss."

"There's a new place in Baltimore I read about when we were   
making the airline reservations," Scully said thoughtfully.

"You're actually agreeing to this?" Mulder asked, trying to keep   
the incredulity out of his voice. "I mean, this is your family, but   
earlier tonight -- "

"I know, Mulder, but what Charlie is suggesting makes sense. And   
what you said earlier is true, too. We owe this to our kids. Will,   
Sammi and Missy have just as much right to be members of this   
family, to grow up knowing their cousins and their aunts and   
uncles, as Bill's kids. I'm not going to let my squabble with him   
stand in the way of them knowing their family."

"OK, if you two think it's doable, I'm game," Mulder relented.   
"But I'm scoping out the exits the minute we get there, just in   
case." 

Ruth's Chris Steak House  
Baltimore, MD  
June 3, 2005  
7:30 pm

Thursday and Friday had passed in relative peace, primarily due to   
the fact that a couple of Bill's friends from high school were also in   
town and he had golf dates both days. Mulder spent time with   
Charlie, learning to appreciate the younger man's sense of humor   
as much as his common sense approach to dealing with two teen   
aged boys. Scully finally got a chance to bond with her sisters-in-  
law. Mulder loved catching sight of her, happily playing with her   
new niece or holding one of their own children. The look on her   
face at being able to share the trials and tribulations of motherhood   
with her family was worth all the heartache and years it had taken. 

Maggie was completely in her element, playing with the babies,   
listening intently to the younger boys descriptions of the wild life   
in her own backyard and cracking jokes with her older grandsons.   
Mulder was definitely glad they'd made the journey to spend time   
with her and the rest of his partner's family.

As Friday night approached, Mulder was relaxed enough to think   
that maybe the evening had been a good idea. On Maggie's   
suggestion, they decided to try a popular steakhouse. She knew   
one of the managers and arranged for a table for six on a usually   
sold out Friday night. 

"I love steak," Karen hissed as Charlie held her chair for her to sit.

"I had so much of it growing up. I'm probably going to get the   
seafood," Tara said with a shrug.

"Don't you get enough of that in San Diego?" Scully asked,   
unwrapping her silver and settling her napkin on her lap.

"Dana, there is never such a thing as too much seafood. I could go   
straight seafood any day of the week. It's your brother who   
demands his red meat. When he's at sea Matty and I eat a lot of   
fish and meatless dishes."

"Well, they are better for you," Scully agreed. "But seafood is sort   
of expensive in Montana. It has to be shipped in."

"What's your house like?" Karen asked.

Scully smiled, remembering their not so little house by the   
mountain. "It's in the country, on the state road. The nearest town   
with any shopping, Mt. Airy, is about 15 minutes away; it's 45   
minutes the other direction to Helena, where Mulder teaches. The   
yard is about 2 acres front and back, at least what Mulder can keep   
from returning to the old growth forest," she said with a grin. "It's   
on the side of a mountain, but the peak is right behind our house.   
It's beautiful at sunset."

"Sounds like heaven," Tara sighed. "How many rooms?"

"Well, we built on last year. It was three bedrooms but now we   
have four. We have an office downstairs and upstairs we have a   
master suite with a full bath. In the living room there's a fireplace   
with a carved wooden mantel. I think you can see the mantel in   
the pictures we sent you at Christmas."

"Oh the one with the mirror over it, yes, I remember. That was so   
pretty!" Karen exclaimed. "I hope someday we can come out and   
see it."

Scully smiled as she looked at her sister-in-law over her menu.   
"We'd love to have you out," she said. A kick to her shin and she   
smiled again. "Someday." Her glance shot over to her partner   
who was listening intently while appearing to consider his 'red   
meat' options.

Bill was indeed on his best behavior and even managed to not   
growl during the dinner conversation. Most of the time they talked   
about children or the housing markets in various parts of the US   
and Japan, where Charlie and Karen were currently stationed. If   
anyone had been passing by, they might mistake the group for   
college friends.

Mulder watched the interaction between Charlie and Bill. It was   
fun to use his previously rusty psychology tools again and the two   
men were the epitome of sibling rivalry. Charlie and Scully had   
been right; Bill did like to dominate the conversation, just as his   
opinion was always the correct one. Mulder was cautious when he   
voiced his own opinions, usually couching them in objective terms   
to avoid antagonizing the self-appointed 'head' of the family. It   
was tricky, but no harder than any time he'd been working with   
other agents at the Bureau. He turned his head once to see his   
partner gazing at him with gratitude and admiration.

The women begged off dessert, but everyone accepted coffee.   
After very little argument, the bill had been split three ways. They   
were enjoying their coffee when Bill tapped his water glass.

"I guess this is the best time to give you my little surprise," he said   
with a mischievous grin.

"Surprise?" Charlie asked, shooting a look over to his sister.   
"What surprise is that, Big Bro?"

"Do you remember Robbie Hickman?" 

Scully nodded, Charlie did so but more slowly, his face a mask of   
caution.

"Well, he's a real estate broker now. He was in my foursome at   
golf yesterday and today. Anyway, he has some property in Ocean   
City, beach front property."

"You're buying a house in Ocean City?" Karen asked, a confused   
expression on her face.

"Hell no! I doubt Mr. Moneybags Mulder could afford these   
places," Bill said with a glance over to his sister's partner. "No,   
I'm not buying anything. We're renting. All of us. For a week   
starting Sunday night." 

"Who, exactly, is 'all of us'?" Scully asked in the voice that Mulder   
was certain to turn brutally hard if she didn't get the answer she   
wanted.

"You, Mulder, Charlie and Karen, Tara and I, all the kids and   
Mom," Bill said, very pleased with himself.

"All 14 of us. In one beach house," Karen said slowly, as if hoping   
that she'd heard wrong.

"It's got 6 bedrooms, four of the bedrooms have double beds, one   
has two sets of bunk beds and the last one has a day bed with   
plenty of room to set up portacribs. Each couple gets their own   
room, the babies can sleep in another room and Matty, William   
and the older boys can bunk in one room. Mom gets her own   
room. It's perfect. And the best part is, it has it's own beach. Just   
walk right out the back door, down some steps and you're on the   
ocean."

"I hope the back door has a secure lock," Tara said worriedly.

Mulder looked over at Scully, trying to gauge her reaction. Aside   
from the shock of Bill's 'surprise', she didn't seem overly   
enthusiastic about the idea.

"I don't know, Bill. All of us in one little house -- "

"Little? This is the friggin' Playboy Mansion, Dana. There are   
two living rooms, two and a half baths, the place is usually split up   
with people renting only one half but we get the whole thing for   
five days at a measly $1200. Split three ways that just $400 a   
piece. You can't stay at a hotel in Ocean City for a week for 400   
bucks and you know it! Plus, we can eat most of our meals in and   
save on that, too. There's a full kitchen with all modern   
appliances, plus a gas grill and a deck overlooking the ocean. I   
saw the pictures, I'm telling you, this is too good to pass up."

"We're already renting an apartment in the city," Mulder   
interjected. 

Bill shot him a sour look. "Yeah, well, we can't all rent condos in   
DC," he huffed. "Look, it's going to be great. The kids will have a   
great time. Charlie, there's more in Ocean City for Ben and Nate   
to do than there is at Mom's--the boardwalk is just five blocks   
away. And Dana, you know William will love being that close to   
the ocean! He can pick up seashells or build sandcastles with   
Matty -- "

Mulder flashed back to a dream he faintly remembered. He and a   
small boy about Will's age building an enormous sand structure on   
a beach somewhere. The sand structure was a spaceship . . .

"So, it's all set. I signed the papers in the clubhouse," Bill was   
saying when Mulder returned to conversation from his musings.

"You what?" Charlie exclaimed, choking on his coffee.

"I said I signed the papers. It's all set," Bill said, a scowl taking   
over his previously happy expression. "Rob couldn't wait on this,   
Chuckles. He had to know today. Another party cancelled at the   
last minute and he had to fill the spot. That's the reason we're   
getting it so cheap. Ordinarily this place goes for twice that   
amount."

Mulder blew out a breath through pursed lips. Scully was   
breathing heavily beside him and he wondered how long it would   
take before she exploded. Karen looked stricken and Charlie was   
looking a little sick. Tara was sitting in stunned and embarrassed   
silence.

"So, what's the problem? I get this great place and everyone's   
acting like I just torpedoed your ships."

Mulder bit his lip, knowing that what he was about to do was not   
going to please his partner and most likely wouldn't even ingratiate   
him to either of her brothers. "I think it sounds nice," he said   
quietly.

Charlie shot him a fierce look and all Mulder could do was shrug.

"I guess it would be nice to be by the ocean for a while," Karen   
agreed reluctantly. 

Scully looked wide-eyed at her sister-in-law, as if she'd just seen   
her for the first time and she had three heads.

"It would be easier on your mom," Tara chimed in. "I mean, she   
wouldn't feel like she has to wait on us hand and foot if we're in   
neutral territory. Not that her house isn't neutral territory, of   
course . . . what I mean to say -- "

"We understand what you're saying, Tara, and you're right. We   
could each pull our weight in the kitchen, maybe get Maggie to go   
out on the beach and relax," Mulder said, saving the poor woman   
from dying of humiliation.

"Charlie? Dana? Whaddya say?" Bill asked, crossing his arms as   
if declaring victory. 

Scully, with her tongue worrying the inside of her cheek, looked   
over at her partner. He needed no refresher course in unspoken   
communication to know that he was in for an earful when they   
were alone. But after a moment, she nodded slowly. "I guess   
we're going to Ocean City. When do we get possession?"

Bill beamed at her. "Three o'clock on Sunday. We pick up the   
keys from Rob's rental office when we get there. If we go to 11:00   
Mass at St. Francis we can head out directly after that and be there   
in time for dinner. Dana, can Mom ride with you in your   
minivan?"

"Sure," Scully said with a quick nod. 

"Then we're all set. The place has everything, bed linens, towels,   
dishes, cookware, a washer and dryer, dishwasher. There's even a   
hot tub on the patio under the deck."

"Oh dear, I hope it has a tight cover," Tara muttered, again looking   
worried.

 

Crystal City Place  
11:30 pm

"Scully, you have to talk to me sometime," Mulder pleaded as he   
crawled into bed next to his partner.

She turned on her side facing away from him.

"Look, it's not like I came up with the idea, you know."

She shot him a heated glare over her shoulder. "No, you just had   
to join in on the bandwagon," she accused.

"He'd already signed the paper! He would have been stuck for   
twelve hundred bucks! Then he would have had another reason to   
hate me," Mulder exclaimed, flopping on his back with his arms   
under his head.

Scully rolled over so he could see her clearly when she spoke. "I   
never saw you as a coward." Then she flipped so her back was to   
him again.

"Now wait just a minute," Mulder seethed. "I was just trying to   
keep the peace and you know it."

"What happened to standing up to him?"

"Scully, you're the one who wants to stand up to him," Mulder   
reminded her. "I just want to get out of this vacation with my skin   
intact!"

Scully fell back onto her back. "Did you see the look on Charlie's   
face? I thought he was going to bust a spleen!"

Mulder chuckled with her, wondering not for the first time where   
she picked up such a strange idiom. "Yeah. Hey, this won't set   
them back too far financially, will it? I mean they probably   
weren't expecting to have to shell out $400 and with Ben going to   
college in the fall -- "

"First, Ben gets a full scholarship to the Naval Academy, so they   
don't have to pay a dime for his education and second, Karen's the   
only grandchild of a very wealthy family. She's got a nice trust   
fund that they can dip into whenever they need it. It's not as large   
as your financial statement -- "

"That's 'our' financial statement," he interrupted, leaning over to   
kiss her shoulder. "Oh shit, that reminds me. I had an   
appointment set up with a lawyer on Thursday. I'll have to   
reschedule now."

"A lawyer -- why?"

"I want to make you and the kids beneficiaries on the accounts," he   
said. "I meant to do that last year when we were finally free to use   
our real names, but it's so much easier to do it face to face. I have   
to sign a bunch of papers and such. You're more than welcome to   
come along." He leaned over her and whispered in her ear. "I   
know how paperwork is such a turn on for you, Scully."

She struggled to hold back her smile and pushed at his shoulder.   
"Oh, yeah, it's a wonder we didn't have mad passionate sex on your   
desk the first time I had to reconcile one of the expense reports you   
decided to make a work of fiction."

Mulder started placing kisses on her jaw and along her neck.   
"Darn that Walter, taking the desk to the new place already."

"Guess we'll just have to make do with this horribly comfortable   
king sized bed," Scully purred as she started to return his favors.

"It's a dirty job -- " The rest of his cliche was lost in the heat of the   
moment.

Going Home: Chapter 5 Beach House

Beach House  
Ocean City, MD  
June 6, 2005  
6:30 pm

It had been worth it. It had been so worth it. Mulder smiled   
contentedly from his Adirondack lounge chair as he watched Ben   
and Nate play frisbee with Matt (as he preferred to be called) and   
Will on the sand.

Mulder would remember till his dying day the look on Bill Scully,   
Jr.'s face when he and Scully walked into St. Francis Church with   
their children. Mulder knew Bill expected him to stay at Maggie's   
house while everyone attended Mass. Well, he didn't stay home in   
Montana, he sure as hell wasn't going to stay home in Baltimore   
just because Bill Scully expected him to! Even Tara had a   
surprised look on her face as Mulder led his family into the pew   
and then held the twins so that his partner could kneel and pray for   
a few minutes before the Mass began. When he opened up the   
hymnal and sang, without even really needing to see the words, the   
opening hymn, he thought Bill was going to explode and Charlie   
was going to bust a gut. 

Although Mass had been fun, well, except when Missy decided to   
chew on the collar of his polo shirt, leaving it a sopping wet thing   
against his neck, the drive out to Ocean City had been wonderful.   
The twins had fallen asleep, even William grew drowsy on the   
long ride and Mulder and Scully finally had Maggie all to   
themselves, just for a little bit. The three of them talked about   
adult things, the kind of conversations he and his partner had on a   
thousand car rides through their time at the Bureau. It made him   
remember why he'd stayed on the road with her all those years.

The beach house was the icing on the cake. He was almost   
shocked to find that the house was everything Bill had promised   
and then some. It sat apart from other houses on the beach, giving   
it the appearance of having more land than it actually did. Mulder   
couldn't figure out how it had escaped some developer's condo   
plans, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. When   
he walked with Scully out on the beach for the first time, Will   
holding on to his leg and watching the churning water with   
trepidation and the twins holding Scully's hands, he felt like he'd   
just come home after a very long absence. The salt spray, the   
seagulls, the lull of the pounding surf at high tide transported him   
back to his childhood on the Vineyard. He was so happy he felt as   
if he might cry. When he looked over at his partner, her eyes told   
him she understood as tear tracks streaked down her face. He   
leaned over and kissed her.

It hadn't taken long to get the twins interested in seashells, even   
though they seemed more interested in them as chew toys. Will   
finally ran to the surf with his father, letting the water lap at his   
bare toes. Once he figured out that it wasn't going to eat him, he   
let himself enjoy the waves as his father did. They spent the first   
night playing on the beach, joined eventually by Charlie and his   
family. Ben and Nate insisted on building a fire and after putting   
the small children to bed, the adults came out and sat by the blaze,   
watching a million stars sparkle above them.

When the sun rose over the ocean, there was a soft tap at their   
door. Mulder opened it to find Charlie in shorts and running shoes.   
"C'mon, old man. Race ya on the beach!" he said with his   
trademark smart-ass grin Mulder had come to know in the last   
couple of days.

"You're on, youngster. Let me get ready, I'll be down in five   
minutes."

Mulder found not only Charlie, but Ben and Nate ready to take a   
run down the beach. They started out at an easy lope, but after a   
mile, broke out and the two young men gave the two older men a   
run for their money. When they returned to the house, sitting on   
the deck to let the ocean breeze cool the sweat from their bodies,   
Mulder turned to Charlie and socked him playfully in the shoulder.

"That was a set up!" he declared breathlessly as he gratefully   
accepted a bottle of water from Nate. 

"Nah, Uncle Fox. Dad just didn't want to be left behind all by   
himself this time," Ben assured him. Mulder graciously accepted   
his new nickname. It was somewhat better than what Matthew had   
been calling him -- Mr. Mulder.

"They run my ass ragged all the time. I just figured you needed to   
see what you're in for in about 10 years," Charlie said between   
gasps for air and sips of water.

"Hey, I'll be an old man by the time Will can run that fast. He'll   
have to push me in a wheelchair," Mulder said, shaking his head   
and wiping his face with the hem of his Knicks shirt. "C'mon, let's   
see if we can work the high tech coffeemaker I saw in the kitchen."

Breakfast came and went, each member of the family slowly   
making their way to the kitchen to the smell of coffee and in search   
of sustenance. When the dishes were being put in the dishwasher,   
Matt asked if he and William could hunt for shells on the beach.

"I was just headed out that way," Maggie said and grabbed her sun   
hat and a couple of empty sand buckets from near the door.   
"C'mon, boys. Let's go play!"

Scully leaned against the counter next to Tara and smiled. "This   
was a good idea," she confided.

Beach House  
11:15 am

Mulder had found a quiet spot in the downstairs family room, an   
old leather sofa not unlike his from the apartment on Hegal Place.   
He'd started out reading a battered copy of Harry Potter and the   
Prisoner of Azkaban, a book he'd wanted to read for a while but   
had never found the time. After the second chapter, he'd drifted   
off to sleep.

Pounding footsteps on the wooden stairs to the lower level and his   
son's tearful entreaties woke him suddenly.

"Daddy! Daddy, Matty called me a bad name!" Will hiccupped   
around his sobs.

Mulder sat up and then held out his arms to the little boy. Will   
quickly fell into his father's embrace as Mulder pulled him up on   
his lap.

"Hey, there, buddy. It's all right. Now, what happened? What did   
Matty call you?" Mulder could just imagine what kinds of   
language a child who had grown up in military housing might be   
capable of peppering in his language.

"He said I was a bastard! And he said Missy and Sammi are   
bastards, too!" Will cried and hid his face in his father's shirt.

"He was just calling you names, Will. I bet he doesn't even know   
what that word means," Mulder consoled. Will hid his face and   
cried all the harder. "Let's go talk to Matty," he finally said, in the   
hopes he could calm his son. 

He carried the boy up to the kitchen where there was a tense   
silence. Mulder looked around, noting that Bill and Matt were the   
only occupants of the room and that tears were streaking down the   
older boy's cheeks, too.

"I spanked him," Bill said evenly.

Mulder started to say something in the boy's defense but Bill held   
up his hand to stop his words.

"I spanked my son for calling his cousin a name. I thought,   
wrongly, that he was just being a bully. I come to find out, not   
only was it not a wrong name, I've been lied to all this time."

Mulder opened his mouth and then closed it without a word. He   
felt his stomach drop to somewhere around his knees.

"You never married her?" Bill accused angrily. "You knocked her   
up, left her with a baby she had to give away, took her from her   
family in the dead of the night, got her pregnant again and you   
never married her!" The last few words were shouted so loud that   
the others came running.

"Mulder?" Scully asked as she came in from the deck. "What's   
going on?"

"Take Will outside, Scully," Mulder said tersely.

"No, what is all the yelling about?"

"You're not married, that's what the yelling's all about!" Bill   
bellowed at the top of his lungs. "What the hell are you doing with   
that ring on your finger?" he shouted, grabbing her left hand up to   
show them both before dropping it like a hot rock. "Is lying all   
you know?"

Maggie, Tara, Charlie and Karen appeared from various parts of   
the house. Maggie looked frantically from her son to her daughter   
and her daughter's partner. Mulder was deathly pale, clutching his   
son to his chest, holding his hand over William's little ear as if   
hoping to keep the boy from hearing the words flying through the   
room. Dana was beet red, shame coloring her cheeks.

"Bill," Maggie said, holding out her hand in an effort to calm him   
down. "You don't know what they've gone through -- "

Bill wheeled on his mother, his eyes widening in horror. "You   
knew? You knew they weren't married and you let them act like   
they were?" he whispered, betrayal thick in his voice. "You let   
them sleep together under your roof like it was nothing?" He   
looked around at the other faces in the room. Charlie was showing   
shock, as was Karen. Tara had tears streaming down her face and   
her hand to her mouth. Bill shoved his way through the throng of   
people crowded in the kitchen and stormed out of the back door.   
After a heartbeat, Tara ran after him.

Maggie turned to her daughter, shaking her head slowly. "I knew   
this would come out, Dana," she said bitterly.

Mulder finally found the strength to move. He hugged Will tightly   
to him and then handed the boy over to Maggie. With one look at   
his partner, he turned and headed up the stairs to their room.

"Mom -- " Scully started to speak, but Maggie jerked her head   
toward the stairs. With a quick kiss on her son's cheek, she   
followed her partner.

Mulder was tossing a few items in one of their suitcases. He was   
rather intent on his work, or he chose to ignore her as she came   
into the room.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" she asked, taking a pair   
of running shorts out of his hands. He grabbed the pants back and   
shoved them in the suitcase.

"Back to the condo. Where I belong." He spoke tersely, his anger   
coloring his tone.

"Mulder, what do you want to do -- get married to make Bill   
happy? That's a pretty damned poor reason -- "

He zipped the case shut and turned on her, grabbing her by the   
arms. "You're right, Scully. Marrying me to please your brother   
would be a horrible idea." Sarcasm dripped off every word. "I   
would never want you to do anything that you didn't want to do."   
He grabbed the case off the bed and headed out into the hallway.

She tugged at his arm before he got to the stairs. "What are you   
talking about?" she demanded.

"Nothing, Scully. Just like always, I'm talking to the wind," he   
huffed, pulling his arm away from her grasp. "Kiss the girls for   
me. I'll call when I get in tonight."

"Mulder! You can't go like this! This is insane!" she called after   
him as he made his way through the main floor of the house,   
heading toward the door. She caught him at the car, as he tossed   
the case into the back seat.

"Get your purse. I need you to drive me to the rental car place in   
town. I don't want to leave you stranded," he said evenly.

She crossed her arms, her temper flaring. "No, you just want to   
leave me," she spat.

He rested his head on his arms atop the car roof. "No, I don't want   
to leave you," he said tiredly. He turned his head so he could look   
at her. "But I can't sleep in the same house with you and not sleep   
in your bed, Scully and that's the only thing that would appease   
Bill. I haven't done that for over two years and I can't start now.   
So let me go back to the city -- "

"We'll go with you," she said, tears streaming down her face.

"No, you and the kids stay. If we all go back now -- no, we can't   
do that. It would kill your mom, Scully. Can't you see how this is   
tearing her up even now? If I'm out of the picture, Bill won't have   
a focus and the kids can get to know their family."

"I don't know that I want them to get to know those people," Scully   
whispered. "I don't want you to leave us." 

He lifted his hand to her cheek, brushing a tear away with his   
thumb. "I could never leave you, Scully. If you haven't figured   
that out by now, nothing I say could possibly convince you. But I   
can't be the object of Bill's anger. And I won't let him ridicule the   
way we've chosen to live our life together. So I think it's best for   
me to go. You'll be home in a few days. We'll be together soon."

Her face crumbled as she reached out to embrace him, clutching at   
his back as she had many times before when she thought she was   
about to lose him forever. "Please be there when we get back," she   
begged.

He smiled, even though he knew she couldn't see him, and kissed   
the crown of her head. "I will be. I love you, you know that."

She nodded her head against his chest. "I love you, too," she said,   
muffled by his shirt.

He kissed her again and then pushed gently at her shoulders. "Go,   
get your purse. I want to get the other car and then you can come   
back here and fix the kids some lunch."

"What do I tell Will? He's going to want to know where you are,"   
she said, tears threatening again.

"Tell him -- tell him I went to work. He understands that. Just tell   
him I had some work to do in the city and I couldn't stay out on the   
beach."

She nodded weakly, wiping at her face. He nodded toward the   
house and she took off at a trot toward it.

Charlie was standing in the foyer, watching them through the   
screen door. "Is it true, Dana?" he asked timidly.

She bit her lip and nodded, looking away. "I have to get my   
purse."

"Where're you going?" he asked, grasping her wrist lightly.

"I'm taking Mulder to the Lariat office in Ocean City to get another   
car. He's going back to DC today. We'll be joining him at the end   
of the week."

Charlie looked like he wanted to say something, but simply shook   
his head and walked back to the kitchen. She found her purse and   
quietly left the house.

Crystal City Place  
8:35 pm

On his way back to DC, Mulder shoved his pain into that part of   
his mind he'd almost forgotten. He knew he loved Scully and he   
knew Scully loved him. He knew that they were as strong, if not   
stronger, than they'd ever been. But he also knew that much of   
what Bill had yelled at him was true -- he had ripped her from her   
family in the dead of the night, forcing her to run away with him.   
So what if they were able to retrieve their son, so what if he'd made   
her a good life in Montana? They were still living a lie, even now,   
when they were able to come back and face the truth. That hurt   
him more than anything.

After their midnight disappearing act, Maggie had packed up   
Dana's apartment and his and put everything in storage. She'd   
been paying $125 a month for items probably best left on the curb   
for the trash pick up. So, since he was in a frame of mind to clear   
out the old, he drove directly to the U-Store-It, located in   
Georgetown.

The first thing to meet his eyes when he opened the wide garage   
door to the unit was his old couch. He couldn't help but smile as   
he let his finger trail over the worn leather. He thought about   
shipping it back to Montana, but wondered if it was worth it.   
Better yet, he'd see if Walter and Kim might have a family room or   
den they could put it in. He'd call Kim and see if she'd be   
interested in looking over the furniture. He and Scully had all the   
furniture they needed in Montana. What Kim didn't want and   
Scully didn't think they could ship back to Alexandria, they would   
donate to the Salvation Army or Maggie's parish.

It was the boxes on top of his old desk that caught his eye. Four   
banker style boxes, sealed with duck tape. Two were marked   
Dana's Desk, two were marked Fox's Desk. Those were loaded   
into the back of the rental car to be sorted through back at the   
condo. He was really surprised to find his and Scully's suits, all of   
them, in large U-Haul cardboard closets. Whatever else had been   
in their dressers, Maggie must have donated to the poor, but she'd   
kept all of their suits. Almost as an afterthought, he grabbed   
several of the drycleaner's bags and hooked them on the clip in the   
backseat of the car. With one last look at their belongings, he   
closed the door to the unit and locked it. 

When he arrived at the condo, George was there to help him with   
the suits and boxes. After dumping his treasure on the dining room   
table, Mulder immediately stripped and headed for the shower,   
rinsing off the dust and grime. While toweling off, he stood by the   
phone, trying to decide if he was ready to call and wish his   
children goodnight. The phone rang as he was just about to reach   
for it.

"Mulder," he said. It felt odd and yet so natural to answer the   
phone that way again. 

"Good, you got there safely. I was worried." He smiled when he   
immediately recognized his partner's voice.

"Yeah, I even made good time."

"Then why didn't you call sooner," she chided. Her voice sounded   
strained, he knew she'd probably been crying again.

"I'm sorry. I stopped at the storage place. I'm going to call Kim,   
ask her if she wants any of that furniture. My stuff was crap but   
you had some really nice things. I thought if there were a couple   
of pieces you want to take back to Montana, we could see about   
shipping them by rail."

"Yes, I would like my dresser and armoire. And how about your   
couch?"

"I thought I'd see if Walter wants it. I don't have room for it at   
home."

"You could put it in the office," she suggested. "But if you're   
ready to part with it, sure, see if Walter would like it."

"Scully, your mom kept all our good clothes," Mulder said.

"Wow. I wonder if I can squeeze into any of them now," Scully   
mused.

"You're still tiny," he assured her.

"I've given birth twice, Mulder. I don't think I'll be seeing a size 4   
any time again. But your suits should still fit. And they definitely   
wouldn't be out of style."

"Oh yeah, I'll be the Professor in the Armani. That should get me a   
raise or two from the Administration," he joked.

"Still, you should keep some of them. We could pull them out, just   
for each other."

"Me in Armani and you in . . . nothing?" he suggested coyly.

"I like that idea. Or me in one of your dress shirts and you in . . .   
one of your ties," she shot back in whispered tones.

He crowed with laughter. "I knew it, Scully. You were always hot   
for my ties!" He sighed, wishing she were beside him rather than   
three hours away. "So, how're my little buddies, all of them?"

"Will was a little upset that you left, but I explained that you had   
work, like you suggested and that he could talk to you tonight. He   
seemed to accept that. Missy woke up cranky, but I think it's just   
the tension in the house. Bill hasn't spoken to anyone except Tara   
for the whole day, not that I have anything to say to him. Sammi is   
taking it all in, she's been playing with Karen and Charlie, but I   
think she misses you."

"How's my other buddy?" he asked tenderly. "The one who   
doesn't think she can fit in to a size 4 anymore."

"She misses you horribly. She can't understand why we're talking   
on the phone and not holding each other. She hates her brother at   
this moment -- "

"Scully, hey, none of that," he said when he heard her voice crack.   
"It's just till Friday, love. We've been separated for almost a whole   
year! We can do four days, can't we?"

"But I never wanted to do four minutes," she whispered. "I never   
want to be alone for another second," she continued until all he   
could hear was her choked sobs.

"Scully, Scully, listen to me. It's all right. Really. It will be all   
right. We just need to let Bill have some time. Look, you dry your   
eyes and let me talk to Will, OK?"

The rest of the phone call was spent listening to good night kisses   
cast over the line and repeating one bedtime book, remembered not   
so much by an eidetic memory but by near constant repetition over   
the last two years. Finally, he wished his partner good night, again   
telling her he loved her and hearing the same from her. With a   
heavy heart, he placed the phone back on the charging unit.

The boxes on the table whispered to him as he walked past them to   
get a beer from the fridge. With nothing else to keep him   
occupied, he opened his Rolling Rock, dug a paring knife out of   
one of the kitchen drawers and neatly sliced through the tape on   
one of the boxes marked with his name. With some trepidation he   
peeled back the lid and peered inside.

He smiled fondly at the contents. No monsters here, just the   
contents of his old desk. He found his address book, mostly blank   
pages except for Sen. Matheson. Matheson had lost his last   
election and was currently vying for a seat on the appellate court in   
Massachusetts. Mulder silently wished his former mentor luck. 

There were bills now three years past due, a notice that his   
subscription to the Magic Bullet was due for renewal in June 2001,   
a few old magazines that he'd kept for the articles. Hopefully it   
was Scully who had cleaned out his desk while he was in hiding in   
New Mexico, because he didn't see a single Celebrity Skin in the   
box. 

Since the first box had been so innocuous, he decided to tackle the   
second one. Here he found the contents of the bottom drawers of   
his desk. His gun locker, empty, but still useful. They had a new   
gun locker for their weapons in Montana, and he'd been damned   
happy to have them the previous summer when a super soldier had   
kidnapped the twins. But they didn't need two lockers, perhaps   
Skinner would know someone at the Bureau in need of a good one. 

Under the gun locker was his family photo album. Because of the   
size, it was wedged into the bottom. He tugged on it and   
something fell out of the binding. A small velvet bag with a silk   
cord tie.

His heart stopped. Of all the nights to find this bag, he had to find   
it when the issue was so close to his thoughts. With numb and   
stumbling fingers he loosened the silk strings and pulled open the   
small bag. Holding his palm under the opening, he upended the   
bag, spilling the contents.

A perfect one-caret diamond ring in a platinum setting sparkled as   
beautifully as it had the day he'd bought it. Tucked in the bag was   
the receipt for the ring, kept so that the jeweler would size it to fit   
the intended owner's finger. The ink on the receipt was starting to   
fade, but the image was still clear enough to read. February 12,   
1997\. Mulder thought back to the moment he stepped into the   
little jewelry shop on Wisconsin in Georgetown. He'd just left   
Scully off at her apartment, secure in the knowledge that she   
intended to fight her cancer. He still couldn't say what had come   
over him, but he'd stopped the car and walked to the store without   
conscious thought. He found the ring, the perfect ring, in a   
selection of more than fifty other equally beautiful diamonds. He   
pulled money out of his trust fund to pay for it. And then, ever the   
coward, he'd hidden it in the back of his family album, waiting for   
the day when he could gather the courage to give it to Scully, to   
ask her to be his wife.

Carefully dropping the ring back in the bag and laying it aside,   
Mulder opened the first of the boxes marked with Scully's name.   
In another life, he would have been hesitant to open the box. Days   
gone by when he found her hospital room empty and curiosity   
borne of guilt caused him to read a journal written directly to him   
but never meant for his eyes. But now he felt bolder by years as   
more than just her work partner, as her life partner as well. 

Most of the box was similar to what he'd found in the first box.   
Her address book, a 2002 calendar with William's and his   
birthdays marked with circles but with times listed only for   
William's pediatric checkups. Flyers for take out food, another bad   
habit she'd picked up from him. The normal detritus of a busy   
professional woman who had become a single mother through no   
fault of her own. His heart ached as he looked at a snapshot, taken   
by a Polaroid camera, of William in the arms of a shopping mall   
Santa.

He found an album, just as he'd had in his own desk. He was   
startled when he opened the cover to find a note to him written in   
her florid style on the back of the cover.

"Mulder,

I know how much it hurt you to leave us. But you have always   
been with us in our hearts. I've collected this album for you, so   
that you may know your son as he was while you were gone.

Happy Father's Day

Scully"

His throat closed up and he found his vision swimming with   
unshed tears. With tender care, he turned the pages, wiping the   
dampness from his cheeks from time to time so that none of it   
would fall and mar the images beneath his trembling fingers.   
Pictures of William as he remembered him -- a tiny bundle of   
arms, legs and head wrapped in a blanket that he had picked out on   
a whim. Later pictures of William sitting in a car seat, William   
resting in the lap of Walter Skinner, friend and protector. William   
with Monica Reyes and John Doggett, looking at a Christmas tree.

Mulder closed the book as it ended, with a picture of William   
holding a huge chocolate Easter Bunny, all brown drool and happy   
three-tooth smile.

How could she have given him up? Rather to see him happy,   
healthy, than snatched from his family as Samantha had been. He   
realized in that moment, as he never had before, the full weight of   
her decision. Scully was simply trying to ensure that the past did   
not repeat itself in their lives.

Mulder laid his head down on the cover of the album and cried   
himself to sleep. 

Going Home: Chapter 6 You Can't Go Home Again, Can You?

Crystal City Place  
June 7. 2005  
8:15 am

He was in the car, heading to some crime scene. Scully was asleep   
beside him and he smiled over at her affectionately. At a red light,   
placed suspiciously in the middle of nowhere, he reached over and   
was about to brush a lock of her hair behind her ear when his cell   
phone rang. He snatched his hand back as if burned and grabbed   
for his phone, deep in his pants pocket.

Wait. He never put his phone in his pants pocket when he was   
driving -- did he?

In that second, he came fully awake, finding himself not in the   
driver's seat of yet another non-descript rental, but in Walter   
Skinner's former kitchen. Displacement and adrenaline rushed   
through his body as he found himself continuing to dig for his   
phone, which he finally retrieved from the pocket of his cargo   
shorts.

"Hello." It had taken almost a year for him to stop choking on his   
name as he answered his cell phone. Fortunately for both he and   
his partner, most of the time it was Scully on the other end, so the   
occasional 'Mulder' that had popped out had never caused any   
problems. Now that he could use his own name again and not the   
alias they'd been living under, he was finding the new habit hard to   
break.

"Mulder?" Even half asleep and disoriented from his location   
Mulder recognized the baritone of his former superior. 

"Yeah, Walter, sorry. I was asleep," he answered, wiping drool   
from his chin. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you were still planning on coming back   
to the city for the fitting this afternoon. It's really not necessary. I   
can tell the tailor -- "

"Too late, Walt. I'm already here," Mulder interrupted him.

"You came back from the beach? Wow, that wasn't long. The   
babies OK? William?"

Mulder swallowed hard. He hoped his children were OK, after all   
they were with their mother. Still, it was the first time he'd been   
away from them in three years. He swallowed back the hurt he   
was feeling and took a deep breath. Their separation was just   
temporary, he promised himself. "Nah, something else. I'm here   
by myself. Look, I'll come get you about 12:30."

"Mulder, did something happen?"

"I don't really want to get in to it right now, Walt. I'll be there at   
lunchtime. Look, I'm gonna get a run in, take a shower. I'll see   
you at the office, OK?" He hoped that would cut off further prying   
questions, at least for a while.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. See you in a few hours." 

He ran, he showered and then he stopped by the little cafe that was   
just around the corner for an omelet and some coffee. It felt like   
old times, alone, sitting in a corner booth reading the Washington   
Post. Old, old times. Back in the days before he had started   
spending all his waking hours either at Scully's apartment or she at   
his. He didn't miss those lonely times one iota. 

There was a grocery store just a block from the condo, and   
realizing that eventually his family would be coming back, he   
decided to stock up on a few things. Besides, he was almost out of   
Rolling Rock. Six plastic grocery sacks and $88 later, he trudged   
back to the condo and put away his larder. By the time he'd   
finished stashing the last of the groceries in the cabinet, it was time   
to go see Walter.

He started for the car when he caught his reflection in the glass of   
the patio doors. He'd tossed on the same type of clothes he'd worn   
the day before at the beach: tee shirt, cargo shorts, and sandals.   
No, he was not going to walk into the Bureau wearing sandals. He   
turned around and headed back to the bedroom to change.

In less than ten minutes, he was hurrying out the door wearing one   
of the suits he'd retrieved from the storage unit. Luckily, a pair of   
wingtips was also in one of the boxes he'd found. As he walked   
past the glass door a second time, he smiled ruefully at his   
reflection. It really did feel like old times.

A visitor's badge was waiting for him at the guard station. He   
clipped it on his label and smiled at the guard, a different one from   
when he'd come up to visit Walter with William. The guard   
offered him directions to the Assistant Director's office, but   
Mulder waved him off with a "Thank you, I know the way."

Holly looked up and then recognized him. She smiled up at him.   
"Talk about a blast from the past," she said. "Take a seat, the   
Assistant Director's got one more appointment and then he's free as   
a bird." She stood and picked up some files from her outbox and   
headed for the door. "You look really nice, Agent -- er, -- "

"Mulder, Holly. No 'Agent'. Just Mulder," he said with a wicked   
grin.

"Still, you just looked -- wow, like you never left," she said   
wistfully and hurried out the door, but not before he could see the   
blush rising to her cheeks. What was that all about, he wondered.

A tall dark skinned man, wearing a suit that didn't quite match his   
frame, came into the office and looked around.

"Holly just left for the stacks. She'll be right back," Mulder told   
him. 

When the man turned toward Mulder, it was obvious he was   
young, and equally obvious he was nervous. New agent, his whole   
posture screamed. "Have a seat," Mulder offered, nodding toward   
the other end of the couch he was sitting on.

The young man licked his lips, looked around again and finally   
nodded. He sat down and immediately began fiddling with first his   
badge and then his tie. Suddenly he looked over at Mulder. "Oh,   
sorry, Jerry Wright," he said, extending his hand in greeting.

"Fox Mulder," came the reply, and Mulder accepted the   
handshake.

Wright nodded and looked away, only to do a double take a second   
later. "You wouldn't be 'the' Fox Mulder, would you?" he asked,   
his voice breaking just a little.

Mulder snorted. "I'm pretty sure there isn't another one," he said. 

"Fox Mulder, X Files Division Head for 9 years, top profiler of the   
BSU for 3 before that. Recruited out of Oxford. The guy who   
wrote the Monty Props monogram -- that Fox Mulder?" Wright   
recited as if it were all memorized in exacting detail.

Mulder chuckled again. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Wow," Wright said, giving Mulder a long look. "Wow." He   
leaned back against the couch, looking slightly bewildered.   
Finally, he turned back to Mulder. "I heard you were dead."

"You know what Mark Twain had to say about that," Mulder   
quipped.

Wright looked more befuddled but remembered the reference. He   
laughed. "Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated," he   
quoted. 

Mulder didn't say anything, just touched his nose. Wright's smile   
got even bigger.

"I mean, we heard all about you at the Academy. We had to study   
a couple of your profiles. You had a partner -- "

"Have, I still have a partner," Mulder said fondly. "Dana Scully."

"Yeah! That's the one!" Wright said, not missing a beat. "Smart as   
a whip, they said. A doctor, was in line to be head Pathologist -- "

Mulder's head jerked up at that. That was something he hadn't   
heard before. Scully had never mentioned --

"Yeah, I heard tell she'd be hired on the spot for the Head of   
Forensics today, but of course everyone thinks -- "

"She's not dead either. As a matter of fact, we have three small   
children."

"You don't say," Wright said cheerfully. "Wow."

At that moment, the door to the inner office opened and Walter   
Skinner's shining pate appeared. "Where's Holly?" he asked,   
directing his question at Mulder.

"Filing. Stacks," Mulder replied with a shrug. 

Skinner turned his attention to young Agent Wright. "Agent   
Wright, I didn't expect to see you back so soon," he said dourly.

"I just had a couple of things I needed to run by you, sir," Wright   
said, standing tall, almost at parade attention.

Walter sighed. "Mulder -- "

"I'm perfectly comfortable right here, Walt," Mulder grinned. 

"This better not take long," Skinner growled at the agent, stepping   
aside to let the young man enter the room. "Mulder, don't touch   
anything," he quipped as he closed the door.

Mulder's grin got all the bigger and he leaned his head back against   
the couch, absolutely content to do nothing but wait.

Holly came in, they chatted for a while about Mulder's kids and   
how life in DC was treating her. After about a half an hour, Agent   
Wright made a hasty exit from Skinner's domain.

"Nice to meet you, Agent -- em -- Mr. Mulder," he said politely as   
he hurried out the door. 

Skinner was a few seconds behind him, pulling on his suit jacket.   
"Holly -- "

"You're in a meeting out of the office," she smiled up at him.   
"And you have your cell phone if anyone _really_ needs to get   
hold of you."

"You're the greatest," Skinner said with an easy smile. Mulder   
looked at the man for a moment, amazed at what he was seeing.   
"What?" Skinner asked gruffly.

Mulder smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. It's just nice to see   
you so . . . happy, Walt," he said with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, welcome to the club," Walter replied and they headed   
toward the elevator. As soon as it was evident that they were   
alone, Walter turned to his friend. "So, who threw the first punch,   
you or Bill?"

Mulder closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall of the   
elevator. "Neither. But enough words were thrown to outweigh   
the need for punches."

"Mulder, you can't let Bill Scully get to you -- "

"He found out we're not married," Mulder said quickly.

Skinner dropped his eyes to the floor in sympathy. "How did he   
find out? Scully didn't tell him, did she?"

Mulder opened one eye to regard his friend. He smiled, relieved   
that Walter seemed to be taking his side, unlike Scully's family.   
"No, I don't think Dana said anything. Actually, I can't figure out   
who spilled the beans."

Walter whistled low. "How did Scully's mom take the news?"

"Not that well," Mulder answered. "I left. I knew it would just get   
worse if I stayed around."

"Mulder, that doesn't sound like you. This is your life, yours' and   
Scully's. It really shouldn't matter if you're married -- "

"The only thing Scully had left of her old life was her faith. She's   
been attending Mass every Sunday since we got to Montana. Her   
Church is telling her that living with me and not being married is a   
sin. It's the way she was raised. Hell, her younger brother married   
a girl after he got her pregnant. We have three kids together and   
no ceremony. That's what Bill's pissed about."

"So, if it's important to her, get married," Walter said, as the   
elevator doors opened. "Did you drive?"

Mulder shook his head. "I took the Metro. And for the record, I've   
asked her to marry me, repeatedly."

"So what's the hold up?" Walter shot back, digging his keys out of   
his pants pocket and hitting the remote door switch with his thumb.

"She hasn't said yes," Mulder bit out, immediately regretting the   
heat behind his words. "Sorry. It's a bit of sore point."

"You have to know that Scully -- "

"Walter, I admit to being a bit dense about my partner's feelings for   
me for the first seven years of our relationship, but I am very   
secure in the knowledge that she loves me and she's in this for the   
long haul."

Skinner nodded in agreement. "So, I reiterate, why didn't you just   
punch his lights out and be done with it?"

Mulder shook his head again. "It's her family. She has to come to   
terms with this. Scully would tell you that we're married, she has   
told me in no uncertain terms that she considers us married,   
married since March 6, 1992, as a matter of fact. But she has to   
explain that to her family. That is her place, not mine, to make   
them understand. I don't think busting my knuckles on Bill   
Scully's jaw is going to bring about enlightenment."

"True, but there would still be a certain amount of satisfaction,"   
Walter pointed out with a wicked grin.

"So what had young Agent Wright so tangled up in knots?" Mulder   
asked, deftly changing the subject.

"Wright's a good agent. Green as they come but bright. A case   
came through Violent Crimes and he picked up on the fact that it   
might be a serial."

"Profiler?"

"He has the makings of one. Like I said, he's a bit green."

"Hey, when is our appointment at the tailors?" Mulder asked as his   
stomach growled loudly in the closed space of Skinner's Buick.

Skinner cocked an eyebrow. "We have enough time to appease   
that monster," he teased.

Lunch was good, Skinner took Mulder to a deli that had opened up   
not far from the Hoover. They decided that after their appointment   
with the tailor, Skinner would take Mulder by the new house. The   
fitting was completed in record time, Mulder would be in a black   
tux with black tails, Walter in grey jacket with tails. Walter's cell   
phone went off as Mulder was changing back into his own clothes.

"Damn it, I can't even take an afternoon," Skinner groused. "Do   
you mind if we run past the Bureau on the way out to Falls   
Church?" 

"Not at all. You sure you don't need to get back to the office? I   
understand if you have work to do this afternoon."

"No, it's just some forms I forgot to sign. They're due in the   
Director's office by 5 and if I don't get them there, I have not only   
Holly, but Kim on my ass."

"Not to mention the Director," Mulder quipped with a raised   
eyebrow. 

"He's the least of my problems, believe me," Skinner deadpanned.

Mulder followed his former superior back to his office. Skinner   
sat down, waving in the general direction of the two chairs lined up   
in front of his desk. The former agent gave his friend a sardonic   
grin as he slid down into his usual seat. The forms requiring   
signature also seemed to require some review, so Mulder quickly   
sought out something to occupy his mind. He picked up a folder   
he found on the edge of the desk blotter.

"Mulder?" He looked up to find Walter staring at him, a quizzical   
look on the older man's face. "Did you just go into a fugue state on   
me?" There was humor in Skinner's voice, but not in his eyes.

"Sorry. I was just -- " Hastily Mulder returned the file to its place   
on the desk.

"Pretty interesting, isn't it?" Skinner asked, leaning back and   
crossing his arms.

Mulder shrugged. "No trauma to match cause of death. I'm sure a   
tox screen -- "

"A few pages toward the back is the full tox screen. Over the   
counter antacid, no other substances."

"Death by Rolaids," Mulder muttered, pulling on his lip. "But the   
organ failure -- "

"You read the ME's report?" Mulder nodded. "Do you think it's   
possible that the heart and lungs could be 'cooked' with no external   
trauma?"

Mulder grinned and shook his head. "Boy, are you asking the   
wrong person," he said. "Are you finished signing the   
Constitution, yet, or do we need to convene another Continental   
Congress?"

"I've been done for five minutes. I was trying to get your   
attention," Skinner said coolly as he stood and gathered the papers   
he'd just signed. 

As they started for the door, Mulder stopped and looked back at   
the file. Skinner watched him and finally nodded. Mulder went   
back and pick up the file, flipping pages. 

"It's not protocol, but would you like to take that back to the   
apartment, read it over a little? Agent Wright could use some help   
on where to proceed."

Mulder dropped the file to the desk. "I -- No. I think that's   
probably a bad idea," he said, but his eyes were full of indecision.

"What could it hurt?" Skinner asked. "Just take the file, look it   
over. Give the kid some pointers. We do actually hire consultants   
around here. They make pretty good money, I'm told."

"Don't need the money, don't need the trouble," Mulder said lightly   
but he still hadn't moved from his spot next to the desk, his hand   
hovering over the folder. With an obvious effort, he dropped his   
hand to his side and sprinted out the door after his friend.

Beach House  
Ocean City, MD  
June 7, 2005

Scully sat on a chaise lounge on the deck, shielded from the sun by   
a large umbrella. The twins slept peacefully next to her in their   
playpen, William was out on the beach with Matthew, both little   
boys following their cousins Ben and Nate, as they searched for   
shells and driftwood. Will was having a great time, and the older   
boys, to their credit, didn't seem to mind the littler ones tagging   
along. The uproar of the previous day appeared to be all but   
forgotten.

Except by her. Every time Scully closed her eyes she could see the   
hurt, the helplessness and finally the resignation on her partner's   
face as he got into the new rental. As they'd kissed goodbye she   
couldn't shake the feeling that it was one of those times she   
shouldn't have let him go. 

It could hardly be considered ditching. She knew exactly where he   
was, could call him at any time. But she felt strongly that there   
were things she needed to sort out, feelings she needed to put into   
focus and she sensed he was giving her time to do that. Even if she   
didn't really want to go through the process, it was something that   
needed to be done.

The adults had spent the previous night and the morning walking   
on eggshells, taking care of the children, ignoring each other.   
Maggie had tried talking to Bill but it had ended in slammed doors   
and silence. It was hard enough to think of all that the argument   
had dredged up, much less deal with the emotions left in its wake.   
Still, after sleeping in a cold bed and waking up alone, Scully knew   
she had to take matters back into her own hands.

She found Bill in the living room, trying to get the ancient VCR to   
work.

"We need to talk," she said firmly as she turned off the television   
set.

"I don't see much that needs to be said," Bill replied tersely.   
"You've made your bed -- "

"Cute choice of phrase Bill, but you're not going to win this one,"   
Scully replied. "Look, I don't give a rat's ass if you don't approve   
of my life. I haven't for a very long time."

"Well how about Mom's approval? Or Dad's?" he shot back.

She cracked a bitter smile. "As if you are the authority on Dad's   
thought processes. In case you didn't notice, Dad died 11 years   
ago. And I don't remember anyone electing you to take his place."

Bill's eyes narrowed. "Someone had to."

Scully huffed. "No, Bill. No one had to. Especially not you. You   
and your perfect life, your perfect marriage. You have no idea   
what I went through to finally get to a place where I wasn't   
comparing every life choice to what Mom and Dad wanted for me,   
what you and Charlie had done before me. Well, guess what?   
When I finally let myself get past the walls I'd built up, I   
discovered something. What Mulder and I have is stronger than   
what Mom and Dad or even you could ever know! And if you   
can't handle the fact that we're happy, that _I_ am happy, then I see   
no reason for you and I to have any further contact." She turned on   
her heel and left him with his mouth hanging open.

Tara was in the kitchen and by her wide-eyed expression; she'd   
overheard every word. "Dana, you don't mean that. Please, I don't   
want to lose you. You're the only sister he has -- "

Scully stopped and wiped at the tears tumbling down her cheeks.   
"I can't. I can't be around him. He has to change, Tara. This time   
I'm not going to be the one to give in. He has to change."

"I know, I know," Tara said, reaching out to take her sister-in-law   
into a hug. "Just please, please don't give up on him. Give him   
some time."

Scully pushed out of the embrace, shaking her head. "How much   
time does he need?" When Tara couldn't answer, Scully nodded.   
"I have to get the kids ready. We're going back to DC."

Charlie was standing in the doorway to the deck, looking   
perplexed. "Dana, William is all the way down the beach with the   
boys and the girls are napping. You don't have to leave now, do   
you?"

"Who's leaving?" Karen asked anxiously, hot on Charlie's heels.   
"Dana, you aren't leaving, are you?"

Scully felt as if her back was against a wall and she had no   
defenses left. "Listen, all of you. I just want to get my children   
and go home."

"All the way to Montana?" Karen asked.

"No, back to Mulder," Charlie said knowingly. 

Without even looking at her brother, Scully turned and walked   
toward the stairs. "Tara, could you watch the girls while I pack our   
things, please?"

She was stuffing clothes in one of the duffle bags when she heard   
the door open. She looked up and saw Charlie. She went back to   
her packing. "I'm really not in the mood for this, Charlie," she said   
through gritted teeth.

"Why didn't you go back with him yesterday?" Charlie asked,   
sitting down on the foot of the bed.

She shot him a glare, but it softened when she saw his openly   
curious expression. "Mulder wants the kids to know their family.   
Our family, I guess. He wanted me to stay so that they could stay."

Charlie nodded, taking that information to heart. "OK, then let the   
kids stay."

"What?" Scully snorted. "No, I don't think so."

"Dana, Mom is here, Karen, Tara and I are here. You don't think   
Bill would ever do anything to hurt -- "

"Of course not!" she objected immediately. 

"Then let the kids stay. It's just for a couple of days. Will is   
having a blast; Ben and Nate think he's a hoot. They were telling   
me some of the stuff he's been coming up with. For a four year   
old, he's one sharp cookie."

Scully smiled proudly. "He's reading, you know."

"I know. He was telling me the ingredients on the bag of Cheetos   
at lunch. I had no idea how much sodium was in those things!"

For the first time in 24 hours, Scully laughed. 

"You can trust us with your children, Dana. They're our family,   
too. And when was the last time you and Mulder had a little time   
together by yourself?"

She shook her head. "You always have been able to surprise me,   
Chuckles. I was certain you'd come up here to convince me to   
stay."

Charlie feigned shock. "Me? Surprises? Never! Besides, I   
thought you were a fool to let Mulder leave by himself yesterday."

She shot him a narrow eyed glare. 

"I'm serious," he said firmly.

"You aren't upset that we aren't married? I mean you and Karen --   
"

"Are us, and you and Mulder are totally different. Dana, Mom has   
given me a brief but concise run down of all that you two have   
gone through. Whereas Bill might not have listened, I did. As far   
as I'm concerned, you're married where it counts," he said, pointing   
first to his head and then to his heart. "What everyone else thinks   
really shouldn't matter."

She walked the two steps so that she was right in front of her   
brother and leaned down to hug him tightly. "I love you,   
Chuckles." She released him and stood back. "Why couldn't you   
have been born first?"

"You know, I've asked Mom that all my life," he said with a   
wicked grin. "But I'm not sure birth order is the only thing going   
against Bill. I have a theory."

She cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Yes," she   
encouraged.

"I think Mom dropped him on his head a time or two before we all   
got here."

Scully laughed again and then shook her head. "OK, that's it. I'm   
out of here."

Charlie caught her arm, stilling her movements. "One thing, Dana,   
you have to tell me before you go."

She swallowed, waiting for the onslaught.

"Where did you stash the extra diapers? You aren't leaving here   
before you tell me!"

Going Home: Chapter 7 Not What She Expected

Crystal City Place  
June 7, 2005  
7:30 pm

She parked in the visitor's space for Skinner's apartment, just a few   
spaces over from Mulder's rental. It took all her effort to drag   
herself and her duffle bag out of the car. Traffic on the   
Chesapeake Bay Bridge had been a nightmare, as usual, but more   
than that was causing her exhaustion. She hadn't slept the night   
before and was still struggling with emotional upheaval.

She juggled her keys as she walked down the hallway. What was   
she going to say to him? She'd seen his face as he drove away. He   
hadn't looked angry, but he had every right to be. He looked sad   
and . . . disappointed. When confronted with her own lie, she'd let   
him take the brunt of it. She was angry with herself, she didn't   
blame him if he was angry with her for waiting until he'd been   
gone a night before she would stand up to her brother.

Not to mention he probably wouldn't be happy when she arrived   
alone. She hadn't consulted him on leaving the kids at the beach.   
Not that she didn't relish spending time alone with her partner   
(angry or not), it was just that they never went anywhere without   
the kids, well, almost never. The only people they trusted with   
their children were the Hawthornes, and never for overnight. But   
this was her family, she argued internally. Yeah, the same family   
that practically disowned her for loving her partner. She got the   
image of a cat chasing its tail. No matter what his mood, she   
would talk to him, make it right. Nothing else mattered but that   
they were on the same page.

She unlocked the door to the apartment, calling out to him.   
"Mulder?" Silence answered her. Frowning, she walked through   
the empty apartment, dropping her duffle in the bedroom they   
shared. He'd been there the night before. The bed was unmade   
and his clothes were on the floor. She found a clean pair of shorts   
and clean tee shirt lying on the bed, hastily folded. His sandals, the   
pair he'd lived in since warm weather had arrived, were tucked   
under the edge of the bed skirt. What the hell had he worn to meet   
Skinner, she asked herself.

He'd gone out to dinner, she decided. It was entirely possible that   
Skinner and Kim had invited him out to eat, since he was in the   
city alone. That alternately warmed her heart and froze it. He   
shouldn't have been here by himself. She should have been with   
him. But beating herself up over it wouldn't change the past. All   
she could do was hope to make it better in the future.

Scully wandered into the kitchen to find something to eat.   
Amazingly, the refrigerator was stocked, including 2 percent milk   
and apple juice. She smiled; he knew they were coming home. At   
least he didn't think they'd abandoned him. She found her favorite   
lunchmeat, thin sliced turkey breast, in the meat drawer and made   
a sandwich for her dinner.

There were boxes on the table, so she had to move some things   
aside to make room. As she ate, she looked at the writing on the   
side. Her mother's handwriting, in china pencil, just as she'd   
marked all the boxes in every move the Scully family had made   
through the years. She bit her lip as she realized what was in the   
boxes. Her things, his things. All the pieces of their lives that   
they'd left behind on that one dark night in June three years ago.   
Dropping her half eaten sandwich to the plate, she pulled the   
closest box toward her and peered inside.

Her desk items stared up at her. Her drawer organizer, neatly   
wrapped in clear plastic, the pencils, pens and paperclips still in   
their proper compartments. Her address book, very handy now   
that she would probably start sending Christmas cards to old   
friends again after a three-year absence. Photo albums made the   
bottom layer.

She pulled them out, brushing her hand across the leather.   
Opening one of the albums, her throat tightened and tears blurred   
her vision. She remembered this album. She had made it for   
William. It was pictures of his father, so that the little boy would   
know the man who'd given him life.

Mulder at a crime scene, staring hard at the ground. Mulder in the   
office, feet on the desk, giving her a 'don't you dare' look as she   
snapped the picture. Some pictures of the two of them, taken by   
crime scene photographers. She remembered asking for them, just   
to keep the picture out of the water cooler gossip mills. Pictures of   
the two of them that Langly or Frohike had taken when the two   
agents had visited the Gunmen. 

She stopped turning the pages at one picture. It was an 8 by 10, it   
took up the page, black and white. Mulder was standing on a street   
corner, looking off into the distance, thinking. She ran her finger   
over the plastic, tracing his jaw, his forehead. She loved this man.   
She loved him more than she had ever realized.

The last three years and the nine before that, she'd known her   
place. Her place was at his side. For the first few years, she felt   
the need to protect him, while he carried on his quest. Sancho to   
his Quixote. She'd been sent to spy on him, she was as aware of   
that as he was from the start, but she had no intentions of being a   
spy. When she saw his nobility, his honesty, his integrity; she   
knew he needed her as a buffer from the powers that were out to   
destroy him, whatever the reason. 

With her own abduction and with the loss of Melissa, she took his   
quest on as her own. No longer were they hero and sidekick, now   
they were partners in crime. She smiled at that thought. She had   
felt like a criminal when they'd returned from Antarctica to find   
their work handed off to other agents. No, not just other agents --   
Diana Fowley and Jeffrey Spender. Scully shuddered in revulsion.   
No matter that the woman had died almost six year previous, she   
still got a lump in her stomach at the mere thought of Diana.

Jealousy. She could finally allow herself to look at her feelings   
without the pressures of a strictly work partnership. She hated   
Diana on several levels, not the least of which was because Scully   
was certain of Diana's duplicitous nature. But overriding all of   
that, Scully was jealous that Mulder had trusted the other woman.   
Trust was something she'd had to earn, and she had over years of   
partnership. To see him blindly trust someone who was so   
obviously not working in his best interest infuriated Scully. There   
were times when she didn't want to just scratch out Diana's eyes,   
she wanted to rip Mulder's arms off and stuff them down his throat.

Shaking her head, she laughed. What a picture! Years later and   
she still could get her hackles up over it. But in some ways, Diana   
had ultimately given her life to ensure Mulder survived. She   
redeemed herself at the last moment. Scully would forever be   
grateful for that. But it didn't mean she wasn't just slightly pleased   
that the bitch was dead.

Love, jealousy, trust, misunderstandings. Life, death, burials and   
births. They'd gone through it all and come out all the stronger.   
Scully had seen marriages break up over far less.

Another album hidden behind one of the boxes caught her eye.   
She picked it up, recognizing almost immediately. The Father's   
Day present she never got to give. Again the tears caused her   
vision to waver, but she gently turned the pages, remembering their   
son, their first miracle together. She ached to give Mulder those   
memories. 

But if the album was out on the table, he must have found it. It hit   
her like a freight train; he'd found the album. For a moment, that   
thought dismayed her. She'd wanted to present it to him, as it   
should be given, a cherished gift. To have him stumble on it with   
no preparation --

The little velvet bag slid out from between two pages. She picked   
it up gingerly; as if she was afraid of the secrets it held. Biting her   
lip, she pulled open the silk chords holding it shut and upended the   
contents into her hand.

A perfect diamond ring landed in her palm, followed shortly by a   
slip of a receipt.

She stopped breathing. This was too much. What had he done,   
had he gone out and bought this today? Her anger was warring   
with her underlying confusion. She laid the velvet pouch on the   
table, putting the ring on top of it. With shaking fingers she   
opened the receipt to find the date.

Oh my God was the first thought to whiz through her brain. It   
wasn't the current date at all. He had purchased the ring --

The date finally settled in her brain and this times the tears sprang   
forth with no possible hindrance. He'd bought her an engagement   
ring long before they'd even become intimate. He'd bought the   
ring just days after her remission. And at the time, she'd thought   
the chip in the back of her neck was his only declaration of   
undying devotion. 

A thousand little moments crowded into her mind. 'Marry me,'   
said to her while she was trying to find a rational explanation for a   
little girl's murderous doll. 'You're my one in five billion,' rasped   
to her from a bed in a psychiatric ward. 'I owe you everything,   
Scully and you owe me nothing,' said in an anguished voice in a   
dingy hallway. 'I love you,' coming from lips just recently blue   
from lack of oxygen and the effects of near drowning. 'You are   
my constant, my touchstone," said with a tear choked voice from a   
battered soul. 

All those moments, and hundreds just like them, all that time he   
held this ring, hidden, buried in his apartment and his heart. He'd   
broached the subject a hundred times and each time she'd ignored   
what he was saying. Of course, he could have come right out and   
said the words, handed her the ring, but her Mulder, the man she'd   
given her heart to years before, was too insecure for that. His fear   
of rejection held him in check.

Silently she slipped the ring on her finger, where an engagement   
ring was supposed to be worn. It fit perfectly, as she knew it   
would. Her heart clenched and tears flowed freely. When she   
heard the key in the door, she startled. Ripping the ring from her   
finger, she stuffed it and the receipt in the bag, concealing them in   
the pages of the album and hiding the album in one of the boxes.   
She didn't want him to know she'd found it. Not yet. 

When he opened the door, Mulder sensed movement in the   
apartment. The hairs on the back of his neck lifted and he   
automatically reached for his weapon, which would have been on   
his hip in earlier days. He grabbed thin air and sighed. OK, fists   
would just have to do, and the element of surprise. It had been   
quite a while since he'd had to think on his feet in a dangerous   
situation. He considered going back out in the hall, as he should as   
a private citizen. Nah, he hadn't been that domesticated. He   
stepped forward toward the kitchen where he heard shuffling and   
bumping --

"Scully! For God's sakes -- you trying to kill me?" he yelled at   
her. She turned and he got a good look at her tear-streaked face.   
"Scully, baby, what's wrong, what's the matter?" he pleaded   
immediately, opening his arms.

It took only a couple of steps but it felt like she'd run all night. She   
grabbed him tightly and pillowed her cheek against his chest where   
she could listen to his rapid heartbeat. She couldn't talk, she wasn't   
going to move, she was right where she wanted to be, safe in his   
arms, him safe in her arms.

"Scully, hey, love, what's the matter? Is it one of the babies?   
What's happened? Please, you're scaring me, tell me what's   
wrong," he begged of her.

That forced her into action. She pulled away and grabbed his face   
in both hands, pulling it down for a scorching kiss. When they   
needed air, she released him, smiling up at him through her tears.   
"No, nothing's wrong. I just missed you."

He chuckled at her and leaned down for another kiss. "Remind me   
to stay away for a day again sometime," he teased, but she would   
have none of it.

"No, not ever. Never are we going to sleep in separate cities, in   
separate beds unless we both agree and have damn good reasons,   
and my brother's whim is not damn good enough!" she growled   
forcefully. They kissed again and it was getting very warm in the   
kitchen.

Finally, Mulder pulled away, holding her at arm's reach. He   
looked around, listening for a moment. "Scully, where are our   
children?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"With my mother and brothers at the beach," she answered, biting   
her lip.

"You came back without them?" he asked, frowning.

"Mulder -- "

"We have this whole apartment to ourselves?"

"Mulder, don't be angry. I trust my mother -- "

"Scully, stop talking, now!" He picked her up in his arms as she   
whooped and grabbed on to his neck. "No more talking until   
morning. Come show me how much you missed me," he said with   
a wicked grin.

Crystal City Place  
7:35 am

Walter Skinner was seldom a patient man. Having been called out   
of the arms of his intended just an hour before, he wasn't a very   
happy man, either. He stood in front of the door to his old   
apartment and rapped again. Still, no answer.

Digging into his pocket, he produced his keys and quickly   
unlocked the door. "Mulder," he called, walking into the living   
room. No sign of his friend, but that wasn't unusual. Mulder didn't   
have a schedule to keep and he'd been at the Bureau pretty late the   
night before. Skinner was still alternately kicking himself and   
patting himself on the back at roping Mulder in on Agent Wright's   
case. Mulder had been one of the best, if anyone could teach   
Wright how to investigate -- and keep an open mind -- it was   
Mulder. If only he could figure out how to get Scully involved,   
Skinner mused as he moved toward the stairs leading to the   
bedrooms.

Odd, Mulder's suit coat was hanging off the newel post to the   
upstairs. Odder still, his tie was slung over the banister. One   
wingtip was kicked toward the corner of the landing; Walter found   
the other at the top of the steps. Was that a woman's shoe lying in   
the hall? What the hell was Mulder thinking, bringing a woman to   
the apartment when his partner was still at the beach?

"Mulder? What the hell is going on here?" Skinner demanded as   
he pushed open the bedroom door and caught a full frontal eyeful   
of Dana Scully reaching for the sheet that had fallen to the floor.

"Walter?" Scully squeaked, grabbing the sheet and wrapping it   
around her.

"Dana?" Skinner returned, in a voice almost as high as his   
diminutive former agent. He stood there, stunned, unable to move.

"Hey, uh, Walt, could you meet us downstairs?" Mulder asked   
politely from a crouched position on the other side of the bed, also   
without clothing.

"Sure. Yeah. I'll -- I'll make coffee," Skinner said quickly and   
almost ran down the stairs.

Walt blushes all the way across his head, Mulder decided as he   
made his way over to the cabinet to retrieve a coffee mug. "Um,   
we, uh, didn't hear you knock," said the former agent, now dressed   
in shorts and a tee shirt.

Skinner refused to meet his eye, staring at a spot just over his left   
shoulder. "I did knock, you know. I called you, too."

"I think Scully heard that. And your footsteps on the stairs,"   
Mulder said, sipping his coffee.

A thought occurred to Skinner. "Where are William and the   
girls?"

"Still at the beach," Mulder explained, digging in the refrigerator   
and producing bagels and cream cheese. He pointed toward the   
food, wordlessly offering Walter a share in their breakfast.

"No, I can't. I need to get in to the office. Actually, I came by to   
get you. There's been another murder."

"Murder?" Scully asked from the doorway. She, too, had dressed,   
even to the point of wearing long sleeves. Mulder shot her a raised   
eyebrow and she ignored him. "What about a murder?" 

Skinner shot a look over to Mulder who shrugged and looked   
down at the floor. "A military contractor was found this morning   
in his office. He was dead, but there appears to be no external   
trauma."

"Heart attack, stroke, brain aneurism," Scully rattled off.

Mulder shook his head. "He's not the first. I'm pretty sure when   
he's opened up they'll find internal organs done to perfection," he   
commented, taking another sip. At her questioning look, he   
grinned. "Cooked. Like a Christmas goose. The military turned   
to us?" he directed his question to Skinner.

"He was a contractor. But it appears he worked in an accounting   
position, not someone with intelligence information. The company   
CEO called it into DC police, but we had a bulletin posted for   
these types of deaths."

"Is Wright at the scene?" Mulder continued.

"Yeah, I told him we'd -- " he shot a look at Scully and something   
flashed through his eyes. "I said I'd meet him there."

"I'm going with you," Mulder announced.

Scully stuck her hand out. "Wait a minute. Why are you going?"   
she quarreled.

"The kid, sorry, 'new' agent, an Agent Wright, assigned to the case   
is working over his head," he explained.

"So? Walter should assign him a partner," she said through gritted   
teeth.

Skinner busied himself staring at the tile floor.

"Walter asked me to help the kid out. Just give him some   
pointers," Mulder said quickly, hoping to forestall the inevitable   
argument.

"Like hell you will," she shot back. "Mulder, you aren't an agent.   
You haven't been for four years. You are not going back in the   
field! You don't have a weapon, you're skills are rusty, at best -- "

"I didn't hear any complaints last night," he groused sotto voce.

" -- and you're not ditching me with the kids!"

"I thought the kids were at the beach," Walter interjected and   
immediately regretted opening his mouth from the look Scully shot   
him.

"Scully, you know, it would really help Wright if you looked at   
this body," Mulder said, taking hold of her shoulders loosely so   
that she'd look him in the face. "Please. It's just one little body -- "

"I haven't looked inside any body in three years," she spat out.

"But it's like riding a bike, Scully. I mean, it's not like they   
changed where things are put in there," he added, trying to sound   
reasonable.

"Why?" she challenged. "Why this? Why now?"

"I just want to extend a professional courtesy," he said, dropping   
his hands from her shoulders to his sides in defeat.

Her eyes narrowed. "The only courtesies you extend will be to me,   
Mister," she growled. She turned on her heel and headed out of the   
kitchen, but stopped before she got to the doorway. "You can't go   
dressed like that. They'll think you're a death groupie."

"Yes ma'am."

"And I'm coming to the crime scene, too," she directed at Walter.   
"To keep him in line."

"Absolutely," Skinner agreed.

"I'm getting dressed. I'll only be a moment." It was a command   
more than a statement.

"I brought a couple of your 'after William' suits from storage --   
ones I didn't recognize," Mulder called out to her as they heard her   
footsteps tromping up the stairs. "I better go make sure she finds   
them and get changed myself."

"Motherhood doesn't seem to have softened all the edges, has it,   
Mulder?" Walter asked with a small smile.

"Not all of them," Mulder admitted. "I tend to think a couple of   
the edges got sharpened. Be right back."

Walden Electronics, Inc.  
Falls Church, VA  
9:45 AM

Skinner stood by the door, out of the way of the forensics team,   
watching his two former agents as they surveyed the crime scene.   
A rush of deja vu flooded him. It was like the last five years had   
never transpired. He sighed, wondering how things might have   
been different it he'd refused to allow Mulder to go out to   
Bellefleur. But then, knowing Mulder, the man would have gone   
ahead without permission and no one would have been there to   
witness what had happened with the alien ship. 

There was no telling that things would have ended differently in   
the long run anyway. Scully and Mulder had been in an intimate   
relationship, by evidence of their conceiving a child together, long   
before he and Mulder left for Oregon. If Mulder hadn't been   
abducted, Scully probably would have left the X Files, maybe even   
the Bureau, to raise William. Mulder, since Samantha's fate had   
been revealed, might very well have left as well. Maybe they   
would have purchased a house in the area, settled down. Having   
spent time with them in Montana, Skinner didn't find it so foreign   
to see them with three kids and an SUV. Whatever had transpired   
in the last few years, at least everything appeared to be going well   
for them now. Of course, no longer facing eminent colonization   
by an alien force might have had something to do with that.

"I'm just happy you're willing to do the autopsy, Agent Scully,"   
Wright was chattering on as Scully examined the body still seated   
at the only desk in the room.

"I'm not an Agent anymore, Wright," Scully said with a patient   
smile. "Call me Scully. Or if you want, Dana."

"Well, we have plenty of prints, but I'm guessing all of them   
belong to the victim," Mulder said from his position on an office   
chair, dusting a ceiling vent. "No sign of a 'Tooms' like entry,   
either."

Wright gave Scully a confused glance but she shook her head and   
wrinkled her nose to avoid any questions. "If you're done with the   
body, I'd like to get it transported to the morgue," she said.

Mulder jumped off the chair and moved to stand by her. He   
looked expectantly at Wright. "Your call, Agent Wright. Do we   
give the ME the OK to move him?"

Wright looked surprised. "Uh, yeah, I guess we're done here,   
right?"

Scully found the floor rather interesting, using her hair to block her   
smile. Mulder put his hand on the young man's shoulder, much   
like a father would, and walked him over to the corner. 

"Wright, I'm sorry, Jeremy," he said in a friendly tone. "This is   
your investigation. We're not even really here. If you can think of   
any reason for the body to stay, speak up. Otherwise, it's best to   
get the ME going as soon as possible. Speeds things up. Got it?"

Wright swallowed hard and nodded. "Sorry. It's just -- "

"I know, but believe me, it gets easier. Not better, but easier."   
Mulder patted the agent on the back and turned to wink at Scully.   
"I guess you get the next turn, former G-woman."

"Oh joy," she said with a smirk.

Skinner had made the calls to allow Scully to use the morgue at   
Quantico. She and Mulder made the long drive down US 1 to the   
FBI labs in their rental, while Skinner and Wright followed.

"So, what do you think of him?" Mulder asked. They'd just   
stopped for gas and sunflower seeds and he was buckling himself   
into the driver's seat.

"He's green, you're right. I think he has just a touch of hero   
worship," she said with a grin that made Mulder's mind flash on a   
hundred past car trips with this woman.

"Oh, yeah. He was all over you, that's for sure," he replied with a   
twinkle in his eye.

"Mulder, please. It's obvious he's a member of the Fox Mulder fan   
club."

"As long as you stay President of that fan club, I don't care who   
else is a member," he said, taking her hand and kissing it lightly.

She smiled at him and looked out the window. "God, I don't miss   
this drive," she said with a weary sigh.

He nodded, turning his attention to the road.

"Doctor Scully! God, it's been how long?" The administrative   
assistant for the morgue had Scully in a fierce hug before she was   
fully in the office. 

"Hi, Grace, three years, actually," Scully said, freeing herself from   
the woman's grasp. "How are you, how is your baby?"

Grace beamed. "Wonderful, just wonderful. David is almost four   
now. He's such a little person, talking, constantly wanting   
attention."

"Yes," Scully smiled. "I remember he was born just a couple of   
months after William."

Grace's eyes widened and her hand flew up to her mouth. "Oh,   
Dana, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up -- "

Mulder took that as his opportunity. "It's OK, we have him back.   
We're together now. I'm Fox Mulder, by the way." He extended   
his hand in greeting.

Shaking Mulder's hand, Grace's horror turned to confusion and   
then happiness. "You have him back? That's wonderful! Oh,   
Dana, I'm so happy for you. For all of you, I guess."

"And we gave him two sisters last year," Mulder added, putting his   
arm around Scully.

Grace smiled, but a befuddled look soon crept over her face. "So   
you -- But I heard -- Then I guess you're not -- "

"Nope. We aren't," Mulder answered succinctly. "Dr. Scully   
really needs to get started on an autopsy, Grace, a consult for   
Assistant Director Skinner. Can you find out which exam room it's   
in for her?"

Grace hurried to her computer and got the information, writing it   
down for Scully. "It's just great seeing you again. I hope you're   
around for a while?"

"Not long, but I'll probably see you again before I leave today,"   
Scully said, still smiling. As they headed toward the labs, Mulder   
gave her a smirk.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with a fan club," he said. Scully   
waited until an agent passed and then punched Mulder in the arm.

By the time Scully was scrubbed and gowned the body had arrived.   
Donning her safety glasses, she smiled at Mulder, who had perched   
himself on one of the empty tables. "Be careful not to get anything   
on that suit," she warned him.

He looked down at the charcoal grey fabric and shrugged, popping   
another seed in his mouth. "You always liked this one, didn't   
you?"

"Not as much as the navy blue one, but yes, I do like that suit. It   
looks great on you."

He frowned for a moment. "What ever happened to that navy one?   
It wasn't in the storage bin."

She looked up at him, pursing her lips. "I buried you in it," she   
said before dropping her eyes to the body splayed out in front of   
her. Speaking into the microphone hanging just above her head,   
she started. "Dr. Dana Scully, June 8, 2005, autopsy on victim   
identified as John Lemming . . ."

Mulder kept quiet for the rest of the procedure.

Chapter 8 Complications

Quantico Morgue  
June 7, 2005  
3:35 pm

She finished making the last stitch and pulled off her glasses,   
followed by her gloves and hat. Mulder had been particularly   
silent, especially after she so blatantly shut him up with a comment   
about his funeral. Now she wanted some answers.

"Mulder, every organ in the thoracic and abdominal cavities were   
cooked, just as you said, but the brain was completely untouched.   
There is no way that a heat source that close and using that high of   
temperature to cook organs internally could have missed an organ   
less than two feet away! This makes no sense!"

"Guess we really should have listened to those CIA reports on the   
microwaves bombarding the US embassy in Moscow, huh?" he   
joked, but his eyes were steely and serious. "I don't know what to   
tell you, Scully. That's what the first two M.E.s found. And you'll   
notice that the skin and bones aren't deep fried, as you might   
expect."

"A heat source that targets specific organs, goes through the skin,   
leaving the skin and surrounding tissue untouched? Mulder, no   
laser -- not even a surgical laser scalpel -- is that sophisticated. I   
have absolutely no idea how this could happen. Mulder, this goes   
even beyond extreme possibility."

"Gee, I was hoping you'd have something more mundane to give   
me," he teased with a wink. "So you would categorize this as an X   
file?"

"Yeah I definitely would. Too bad they closed the division," she   
said with a sigh, tossing her gloves in the biohazard container. 

Mulder stared at the tops of his shiny wingtips. "Wright is going   
to want answers."

"So would I," Scully said, letting a smile play at the edges of her   
lips. "What are you really thinking?"

He looked up at her and a frown flashed across his face. "Well, for   
the last 3 and a half hours I've been thinking that I'm a real horse's   
ass. I'm sorry I brought up -- "

"Mulder, it hurts to think about your funeral, but that was just one   
more log on the fire. It's over, you came back to me, I'd rather   
forget that time ever happened. Don't dwell on the past. I'm trying   
not to." She turned toward the locker room but his hand on her   
shoulder stopped her. He turned her so that she was facing him.

"Is that what you think this is -- me dwelling on the past?" he   
asked, his voice intense, his face calm but she could see the   
underlying hurt and recrimination.

"Mulder, what are we doing here, right here, right now, standing in   
this lab? We came out here a week ago to see my mother, to attend   
Walter and Kim's wedding, and to tie up loose legal ends. We did   
not come out here to open an X file!"

"You think we should just walk away?" he asked, his hand   
dropping from her shoulder.

"I didn't say that. I want to help Agent Wright as much as you do.   
Well, that's not entirely true. I probably want to help him less than   
you because you see yourself in him. I understand that. I'm just   
saying we should help a little, but not get consumed in this thing."

"I'm not getting consumed by anything," Mulder protested,   
stepping back defensively.

"You're standing there in one of your old suits, in wingtips you   
haven't worn in 4 years and telling me you aren't being sucked in   
on this case."

"You're upset because of my choice of clothing? You told me not   
to dress like a death groupie!" he reminded her, chuckling without   
humor.

She hung her head and sighed. "I'm not explaining myself well.   
I'm sorry." She looked up him and took his hand. "I just thought   
we'd moved past this part of our lives. I'm happy in Montana. I   
thought you were, too."

He tugged on her hand and drew his arms around her. "Don't ever   
think for one moment that I'm not happy with our life as it is now,   
you, the kids, the Old Man in the mountain. I have to admit I even   
miss those goofy kids at the college." He tilted her head up so that   
he could kiss her lightly on the lips. "I just want to help Wright.   
Call it passing the torch. It was so much of our lives for so long. I   
just hate to see it -- " He stopped and searched for the right word.

" -- lost?" she supplied when she sensed his inability to find the   
right image. 

"Yeah. Lost. I just hate to see it all for nothing."

She sighed again, but this time she was smiling. She cupped his   
cheek in one hand and rubbed her thumb across his bottom lip,   
where it was still pressed forward in a classic Mulder pout. "Look,   
I'll let you help Wright, extend your 'professional courtesy', but if   
you start ditching me or anyone else for that matter, I'm calling you   
on the carpet. And if you think Walter Skinner was a major   
hardcase to work under -- "

"Yes. Sir. Ma'am." He replied, punctuating each word with a   
kiss. He hugged her tightly against his chest, letting his breath out   
in a long, relieved sigh. "Have I told you lately that you would   
make one sexy drill sergeant?"

"I don't remember hearing that last night, no," she teased, her voice   
muffled by his tie.

"Have I told you lately that I love you more than anything in the   
world?" he asked more seriously, leaning down to kiss her deeply   
before letting her answer.

"Yes. Yes, I'm pretty sure I remember hearing that just this   
morning," she said with a grin. "C'mon, before you get any crazy   
ideas about using a morgue gurney for activities other than deemed   
suitable."

An image flashed in his mind -- he and Scully on two gurneys side   
by side, wearing only toe tags and a sheet draped over them -- and   
quite definitely alive. "Oh, Scully, don't do that to me. These   
pants aren't that loose anymore," he warned, watching her sashay   
out the double doors to the locker room.

They found Wright in his office, a small cubicle in the Quantico   
BSU section. He was happy to see Scully had finished with the   
autopsy.

"Don't go getting your hopes up, Agent Wright. I didn't find   
anything that wasn't in the previous ME reports," Scully said as she   
sat across from his desk.

"Just cooked organs?" Jeremy said with a wince.

Scully nodded. "But I can tell you, I would be shocked if anyone   
could explain how the organs came to be in such a state. Not even   
lasers can accomplish what we're seeing here."

Wright chewed on his pencil, a habit that appeared to be more than   
casual from the pocked appearance of the writing instruments in   
his pencil holder. "This may sound weird, but my Dad died of   
something like this. But they said it was extreme radiation."

Mulder looked over at Scully and shrugged his shoulders. "There   
was no indication of radiation," Scully explained.

Wright shook his head. "Damn it. Well, I don't know if this helps   
at all," he said, tossing some fax sheets over to Mulder. "I just got   
that from the State Department."

Mulder read over the pages and his eyes brightened. "There was a   
death on a cruise ship in the Indian Ocean that matches the three   
deaths we've seen so far."

"When?" Scully asked, standing so she could look at the papers in   
his hands.

"December of last year. Scully, the tsunami was December 26th of   
last year, right?"

"Yes, the day after Christmas. Horrible loss of life," she said. "Oh   
my God, Mulder, this death occurred right about that time! Wait,   
it occurred -- "

"Quite possibly while the earth was moving underneath the ship,"   
Mulder said, handing the fax back to Wright.

"So this is connected to the tsunami?" Wright asked hesitantly.

Mulder exchanged a look with Scully and then shook his head.   
"It's probably just a coincidence. But if we could get the manifest   
of the passengers on that ship, it might help us narrow down some   
suspects. Or maybe find someone who can explain what we're   
seeing."

"I'm on it," Wright said, picking up the phone.

As he was talking to someone at the cruise line, Scully's cell phone   
rang. She walked a short distance away from Wright's desk, not   
wanting to interfere with his conversation. Her call didn't take   
long and she was once again at Mulder's side. She tugged on his   
sleeve, he was watching Wright.

"That was Mom. Apparently it's been raining all day and it looks   
like it's supposed to get pretty windy. They have tropical storm   
warnings out at the beach. Mom thought it best to come back to   
town. They expect to be back at her house in about 2 hours."

Mulder nodded, his eyes still on Wright.

"We need to get going if we're going to pick them up. It's a long   
drive from here to Baltimore and then back to the condo."

Mulder absently pulled on his lip. "Wright, you wouldn't happen   
to live anywhere near a Metro stop, would you?"

"Mulder, may I speak with you in the hall, please," Scully said   
firmly, crossing her arms.

Sheepishly he followed her out into the hall. She didn't take long   
to mount her attack. "You are not staying here," she said, eyes   
narrowed and lips pursed.

"Scully, there might be more. If Wright found this guy through the   
State Department -- "

"Wright can use the telephone just as easily as anyone, Mulder.   
It's his job to sit here and wait for possible leads. You, on the other   
hand, have no such responsibility. However, you have a son and   
two daughters who have not seen you in three days. I think you   
owe them your undivided attention for a while."

He dropped his head in resignation. "Let me just make sure   
Wright has -- "

"Agent Wright can call Assistant Director Skinner if he needs to   
locate you," she said, not giving an inch and standing as tall as she   
could when faced with a foot difference in height.

"Can I wave goodbye through the door?" Mulder asked, slightly   
annoyed. 

Scully walked over and opened the door, waving in Wright's   
direction. She then closed the door and took her partner's hand.   
"There, all better. Let's go get our babies. I've missed them."

"You are a hard case," Mulder snickered behind her back.

"I heard that," she told him as she turned and held the elevator door   
open for him. "And don't you forget it."

Maggie Scully's house  
Baltimore MD  
6:00 pm

Maggie was waiting for them at the door when they drove into the   
driveway.

"My, don't you both look nice," she said, holding the screen open   
for them. "Did you go someplace special for lunch?"

Mulder caught Scully's eye and swallowed a nervous laugh. "Just   
out and about," he said quickly. "Where are the kids?"

At that moment a squeal was heard at about the same time as a ball   
of lightning jumped into Mulder's arms. "Daddy, Mommy, you're   
here! Can we go home now?"

Maggie plastered on a forced smile while William hugged first his   
father and then reached over for his mother, who caught him as he   
took a flying leap into her arms. 

"Sure, buddy, but we have to get your things together and we have   
to say goodbye to everybody," Mulder said peeling his son out of   
his partner's arms before she tumbled over. 

"It's just me at the moment," Maggie said, tucking her hair behind   
her ear in a gesture Mulder had always thought was Dana's alone.   
"Their bags are still packed unless you left something upstairs."   
She headed for the back of the house. "The girls are in the family   
room."

Scully licked her lips and Mulder shrugged back at her. "Mom,"   
she called, giving Mulder a helpless look. She went after her   
mother, catching her as she lifted Missy out of the playpen.

"Mom, is something wrong?" Scully asked, taking her daughter,   
who happily patted her face. 

"No, nothing's wrong. It was just rainy and the kids were cooped   
up. They missed you both terribly so we decided to bring them   
home," she said simply and picked up Sammi. "I think this little   
one is getting another tooth. She was pretty cranky."

Mulder had come in and lifted Sammi out of Maggie's arms. "Hey,   
here my sweet girl. Boy, Daddy sure missed you," he said,   
hugging her close.

Maggie sat on the couch, glaring at her daughter. "They were fine,   
until it was time to go to bed. When you didn't call -- "

Scully's face fell and her mouth dropped open. "Oh no," she   
sighed. "I got to the condo late -- "

"That was my fault. I -- uh -- I should have thought," Mulder   
interjected.

"Look, it wasn't a big problem. Ben got William interested in a   
baseball game on TV and he fell asleep in the living room. Charlie   
carried him up to bed. And the girls were just cranky from all the   
tension earlier and being away from home. But I had expected to   
hear that you'd arrived safely, Dana, if nothing else."

"Mom, I am so sorry," Dana said, close to tears. "I didn't think -- "

"Having children means you have to think -- all the time," Maggie   
said evenly, standing and walking into the kitchen.

Missy started to fuss and Scully shook her head. "She needs to be   
changed before we go anywhere," she told Mulder, sparing a   
glance toward her mother in the other room.

"You go ahead and change her. Let me try to patch things up,"   
Mulder offered, giving her a faint smile.

"Mulder, you shouldn't have to -- "

"Let me?" he asked. When Missy squirmed in her arms and let out   
another howl, she nodded.

In the kitchen Maggie was setting out a few sandwiches on a tray.   
"You should have something to eat before you start back to the   
city," she said, never looking up from her work.

"Maggie, can we sit down a minute, talk?" Mulder asked, touching   
her arm. He looked around, noticing the distinct lack of other   
family members. "Where is everybody, by the way?"

"Bill and Charlie took the boys to the movies, that new one with   
Lindsey Lohan, Herbie something. Karen and Tara took Julia with   
them and went shopping. We all just figured . . ." She let her   
thought hang in the air.

"Please, let's sit down," Mulder asked, motioning toward the   
dinette.

Reluctantly she sat down at the table, back straight, hands folded in   
front of her. Mulder drew in a deep breath, hoping it would fortify   
him for the conversation ahead. 

"Maggie, first of all, I want to apologize for . . . well, for ruining --   
"

She caught his hand and squeezed it before he could finish his   
sentence. "Fox William Mulder, you have very little to apologize   
for, so please don't apologize for something you had no part in."

"If I hadn't come to the beach -- " he started, but again she   
interrupted him.

"Look, regardless of what my oldest son might think and say, you   
are the head of a family now. Your place is with them. And   
regardless of what others might think, I consider you my son, just   
as Karen and Tara are now my daughters. I would not have   
tolerated it if I had thought you were purposely excluded and I   
wouldn't tolerate it if you felt you needed to stay away. That was   
my fault, for raising such a stubborn and insolent young man with   
such a vaulted opinion of his place in this family."

She let go of Mulder's hand and settled back in her chair. "I know   
this is hard for you. I can see it in your eyes. You have your life a   
certain way and you want to keep it that way. I was wrong to   
expect you all to come here and -- " She looked away, tears   
threatening on her lashes. "I just wanted -- "

"You wanted us all to get along," Mulder said, reaching over and   
taking her into a hug. He released her and smiled at her, wiping   
away a tear that had trickled down her chin. "That's exactly what   
any mother would want."

She grabbed his hands and held them to her heart. "Fox, I want   
you to know something else. I don't blame you, I don't dislike you,   
I don't even disapprove of your relationship to Dana. But to be   
perfectly honest with you, I just don't understand it. What is it   
about marriage that has her so frightened?"

That caught him by surprise. He tried to object, but Maggie placed   
a finger against his lips. "I know it's not you. I know you've   
wanted to marry my daughter for a very long time. I know you   
wanted to marry her after you were returned to us, before William   
was born. I suspect you wanted to marry her long before that,   
even. It's Dana and I just don't understand it. I always thought Bill   
and I gave our children a good example of a loving marriage, but   
with Dana, I guess we failed -- "

"Maggie, you didn't fail," Mulder exclaimed.

"Then why is she so afraid of the commitment? When you were   
both with the FBI it was understandable. You were partners and   
even I could see that getting involved would have caused you   
problems. I ached to see you hold yourselves so far apart when   
you loved each other so much. But when you came back to us and   
you quit the Bureau, I was certain it would all be better -- "

"I think, I know that Dana has been afraid of what others would do   
to us for so long," Mulder tried to explain. "She was so worried   
that they could use what we have against us. And maybe that has   
become deeply rooted in her mind. I know she loves me. I know   
it sounds trite, but I don't need a piece of paper and a ceremony to   
tell me that she will be beside me forever. But if it causes so much   
trouble in her family -- "

Maggie patted his hand. "Billy is stubborn. He was three weeks   
late and had his own way of doing things right from the start. And   
Bill, my Bill, put a lot of unreasonable pressure on him at an early   
age. He would tell Billy 'you're the man of the house while I'm   
away'. At the time my Bill thought it was just encouragement, but   
our son took those words to heart, at a time when he wasn't mature   
enough to understand exactly what was being asked of him." She   
shook her head and played with the floral arrangement on the table.   
"I wish my Bill were here now, to let Dana know that it's all right   
to be afraid but you can't let it rule all your actions and to let Billy   
know that we all have to follow our own hearts," she said with a   
deep sigh.

Mulder heard a throat clear and looked up to smile at his partner   
and their two baby girls. "Hey, all my pretty ladies in one room.   
How lucky can a guy get?" he asked, holding out his arms to take   
Missy, leaving Scully to hold Sammi.

"Shouldn't we get on the road soon?" Scully asked tentatively as   
she sat down. William trailed behind her, struggling with the   
twins' diaper bag.

"Gramma, I need help," he pleaded and Maggie was up out of her   
chair to help him get the bag the rest of the way into the room.   
"I'm hungry," he declared when he finally caught his breath.

Maggie smiled. "Just in time. I have those sandwiches we made   
while we were waiting for your Mom and Dad," she told him.   
Maggie reached over and took Dana's hand. "Stay, at least for   
dinner," she asked.

"Sure Mom," Scully answered. 

The meal was quiet, but not uncomfortable. Scully was happy to   
let the whole matter drop, Mulder and Maggie exchanged knowing   
glances and didn't bring the subject up again. After a dinner of   
sandwiches and salad, Mulder helped load the dishwasher as   
Scully made sure they hadn't left anything behind in the bedroom   
upstairs.

Maggie walked them to the door, holding each grandchild close to   
her. "Gramma will see you tomorrow, right?"

"We're taking them down to the Bureau tomorrow, Mom," Dana   
countered. "But we're all going to the baseball game on Friday,   
right?" she asked, looking at Mulder. 

"Orioles and Cincinnati Reds, should be a good game, Baltimore   
has a great team this year," Mulder said with a gleeful nod.

"Tara wanted me to tell you that she's not that interested in going   
to the game so she's staying home with Julia. If you want to leave   
the girls here, she'll watch them."

"Three girls under two years of age -- that's hazardous duty,"   
Scully replied. "We'll think about it. But Mulder's convinced the   
girls love baseball."

"They watch us play in the backyard all the time, don't they, Will?"   
Mulder defended. Scully rolled her eyes and Maggie chuckled. 

"Have a safe trip," she said, waving. As he was walking to the car,   
Maggie called out to Mulder. "Fox, just a minute."

He trotted over and she hugged him close. "I'll work on Bill. You   
see what you can do with Dana," she said as she broke the   
embrace.

"I'm not a miracle worker. Please don't expect instant results," he   
whispered.

"Neither am I but we have to keep trying," she assured him. 

Going Home: Chapter 9 Another one bites the dust

Crystal City Place  
7:35 am

Three dirty mixing bowls were lined up on the counter top. Half   
an eggshell teetered on the edge of the garbage disposal. Some   
unidentifiable yellow-orange substance formed a puddle just at the   
door of the refrigerator. William stood atop one of the kitchen   
chairs, hastily stirring a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.   
Mulder, rear end skyward as he bent in Skinner's bottom cupboard,   
was searching in vain for a griddle. 

"Aha," came a triumphant yell followed immediately by a loud   
thump and a muttered curse word.

"Daddy, Mommy doesn't like -- "

"Yes, I know, William," Mulder said as he rose from his stooped   
position, one hand holding the griddle, the other one rubbing a   
rising bump on the back of his head. "It just slipped out. Besides,   
Mommy's still asleep and what she didn't hear won't hurt her."

"I'll remember that," Scully said, leaning against the door jam.   
"What in the world are you two up to?"

"Pancakes, Mommy!" William crowed from his perch on the chair.   
"I'm the stirrer."

"And I'm the cooker," Mulder said, leaning over to kiss his partner   
good morning. "You looked tired, we thought we'd let you sleep."

"I was tired. And I was sleeping but two little birds in the room   
next to me starting jabbering to each other and I figured it was time   
to get up."

As if on cue, both girls toddled into the kitchen, Missy grabbed the   
chair William stood upon and tried to climb up with her brother. 

"Uh huh, none of that," Scully said, picking up the tiny girl into her   
arms. "If you want to see, Mommy will help you. See Will   
making pancakes?" She looked over at Mulder. "Did you buy all   
the makings for pancakes when you went grocery shopping?"

"What makings? I bought a box, it said just add eggs and water,"   
Mulder corrected, pointing his chin to an empty box now resting in   
the recycling bin.

"But why all the bowls," Scully asked slowly and then shook her   
head. "No, on second thought, as long as they all fit in the   
dishwasher, I really don't want to know. C'mon girls. Let's go find   
something to play with while we wait for the men to call us to   
breakfast."

Breakfast was consumed in little under fifteen minutes, but it took   
another hour to get the kitchen back in shape. Finally, Scully   
shooed Mulder into the shower and then had a chance to get   
cleaned up. The diaper bag was restocked, including bottled water   
for their trip into the city. William was dressed in one of his   
favorite tee shirts, the Knicks, and jeans shorts while the girls were   
dressed in matching jumpers, one yellow and the other green.   
Mulder grabbed a suit, thought better of it and opted for slacks and   
an oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Scully decided on black   
capri pants and a white tee shirt. It wasn't Bureau issue, but neither   
partner seemed to care.

Since they'd called ahead, Kim was waiting for them at the guard   
desk. She had special visitor's badges made with all three of the   
children's names on them. William was especially proud of his   
badge when Mulder told him it looked exactly like the one he had   
worn every day to work. The guard, the same one Mulder had   
seen when he'd brought William the first time, let William watch   
on the monitor while Mulder's keys went through the X ray   
machine.

William was fascinated by everything he saw, and the girls were   
kept busy being the object of much attention from the support staff   
and the female agents who recognized either one or the other   
partner. Mulder was a little surprised that Kim took them in to see   
the Director's office. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

They went back to the elevators, supposedly to leave the building,   
but instead of hitting the floor for the lobby, Kim hit the button for   
the basement. When they arrived, she smiled and ushered the   
family through the hall and down to the door that once housed the   
X Files Division.

Mulder stood there exchanging looks with Scully as Kim knocked   
on the door and it opened from the inside.

Walter Skinner was standing in the office, a half-grin on his face.   
"Welcome home," he said, waving at the interior space.

The desk was a little more battered, Doggett's desk was missing,   
but a computer table was arranged as it had been when Scully used   
the space as her own. The bookshelves once again held manuals,   
but no psychology books or medical journals. Two matching grey   
steel filing cabinets were lined against the wall. The only bit of   
color in the room came from the poster, positioned perfectly on   
one of the two bulletin boards.

Mulder's throat closed up as he stepped into the office. "Walt.   
You've been busy," he quipped. He walked over to the poster and   
ran a finger across the image of the unidentified flying object   
hovering just above the treetops.

"Hey, want to see some pictures on the slide projector," Kim said   
cheerfully, taking William and the girls to the back of the office.

"Walter, we can't -- " Scully started, but Skinner held up his hand.

"I'm not asking you to come back, Dana," Skinner said with a   
shake of his head. "I'm trying to get another agent assigned to the   
Division. I just thought you two should at least get to see what I   
was up to, make any suggestions you can think might be   
appropriate."

She sighed in relief. "Oh, well, if that's all, I have one suggestion."   
After a measured pause she grinned. "Lose the damned slide   
projector."

Mulder shot her a look and shook his head. "Make sure he has a   
partner, someone who can back him up. Or slice him to ribbons   
when he's out of line," he said with a knowing tilt to his head.

"Oh, believe me, that was already on my list," Walter assured him.   
"You two are OK with this?"

"I thought the Bureau was focusing on Homeland Security these   
days," Mulder said, not really answering the question.

"Most of the resources are in that direction, yes. But we still get   
calls from local law enforcement. The very least we can do is be   
prepared. Don't get me wrong, this won't be a full time   
assignment, at least not at first."

"Colonization isn't a threat any more," Scully pointed out. "At   
least, the consortium isn't involved. All the players are dead and   
buried."

"But that wasn't all we investigated, Scully. Take this case Wright   
has -- " Mulder stopped mid-sentence and shot a look at his old   
boss. "Wright is who you're thinking of for this position, isn't he?"

Skinner ducked his head. "His name has come up, yes. He has a   
pretty impressive record in BSU, although he lacks a lot of field   
experience. And he has a special interest in the types of cases you   
worked on here."

Scully furrowed her brow. "A special interest? How so?"

Before Skinner had a chance to answer, the phone on the desk   
started to ring. Without thinking, Mulder picked it up. After a few   
moments silence he handed the phone to Skinner and turned to   
Scully. "Holly transferred the call down here. It's Wright. There's   
been another murder. And this time there's surveillance tape."

"Where?" Scully asked. She looked over at Kim, who was holding   
the girls hands and chewing her bottom lip. 

"Richmond," Skinner answered, hanging up the phone. "Do you   
think your mother could come get the children?"

"Mulder," Scully said, her voice full of warning.

"I have a better idea," Mulder replied, hoping to negotiate the   
difficult waters he knew he and his partner were entering. "How   
about if you go back to the condo with the kids and I'll go with   
Walter out to Richmond? I'll be back in time for dinner. Better   
yet, I'll stop at Tony's on the way back and the kids can taste real   
pizza for the first time in their lives," he said, waggling his   
eyebrows.

"You're just there to check out the scene, Mulder. Nothing else,"   
she told him sternly. "You can't go after this guy, you don't even   
have a weapon."

He held up two fingers. "Indian Guide Honor," he recited with a   
wink.

"Like I really believe that," she said with a snort. She looked at   
William and the girls. "OK, everyone, it's time to go back to the   
condo."

Benson Industries  
Franklin Industrial Park  
Richmond VA  
12:05 pm

"She was sitting at her desk, just like the other guy," Wright noted   
as he met Mulder and Skinner at the entrance to the office.

Mulder walked over to the tidy desk and looked closely at the   
woman sitting behind it. Her eyes were open, if not for the fact   
that she was unnaturally still, anyone might think she was simply   
deep in thought. There was no terror in those eyes, Mulder noted.   
If anything, the expression looked almost to be one of recognition.

"They called the cops and not the paramedics? Why?"

"They called both, actually. And both arrived at the same time, but   
the cops told the paramedics not to touch anything. Oh, and this   
was found on the desk." Wright held up a lump of plastic in an   
evidence bag. 

Mulder took it from his hand, holding it up to examine it by the   
light coming from the ceiling panel. "Is that a stapler?" he asked   
with a frown. The plastic was molded, squeezed in the middle as   
one might find a tube of toothpaste.

Wright nodded in answer to Mulder's question. "According to the   
manager that found her, that was a fairly new stapler. The victim   
was recently promoted to this position and got a brand new   
matching desk set from the people who used to work under her."

Mulder held it up close and looked it over intensely. "Wright, I   
think there are prints in here. I'd have the lab concentrate on this   
baby."

Wright smiled. "That's what I thought, too," he said with a note of   
pride.

Forensics and other agents were in full force, bagging objects and   
dusting for prints. There were a lot of people in the room and in   
the hall. "The manager is over there." Wright led the way to   
where an older woman sat with a tear stained face but a determined   
expression.

"Mrs. Nelson, this is Assistant Director Skinner and uh, Mr.   
Mulder. If you could show us the surveillance tape from the   
security camera again?"

Mrs. Nelson nodded, obviously relieved to have something to do.   
"I just don't understand it. Nancy is . . . was the salt of the earth.   
Just last week she was putting together a box to send over to the   
boys and girls in Iraq. One of our summer workers joined the   
National Guard -- well, anyway, there's no one on earth who'd   
want to kill her. And right here, in our offices! I can't believe it." 

The woman spoke a mile a minute as they walked down the hall to   
a small alcove with security equipment and four monitors. "We   
don't have a camera pointed at her desk, mind you," she said for   
Skinner and Mulder's benefit. "We do in reception but not back   
where Nancy works, uh, worked. But we have the hall leading to   
her office." She picked up a VHS tape and checked the label.   
"This is it. This is the one." She handed the tape to Wright, who   
inserted it into one of the tape players. "I went to her office to tell   
her a shipment she'd been waiting for wasn't going to be delivered   
this morning. I found her . . . " Tears followed the worn path   
down her face. "I just can't believe . . . "

"You've been very helpful, Mrs. Nelson," Wright assured her. "Is   
your husband on his way?"

"Oh, yes, thank you Agent Wright. I better go out front and look   
for him. He won't find me in this crowd of police officers."

Skinner shot Wright a look as the woman departed. The younger   
agent shrugged. "I thought she needed someone for support. Her   
husband is the CEO, but he had a meeting out of the office this   
morning. I told her to call him."

"Good thinking," Mulder said with a nod.

The tape started and Wright did the play by play. "The mail room   
clerk delivered mail at 9:05. He reported that Mrs. Endicott, er,   
Nancy, was alive then. According to the receptionist, she called   
the front desk looking for that shipment Mrs. Nelson mentioned at   
9:13, we verified that with the phone company. Here, see, at 9:43   
a deliveryman came asking for Nancy by name. There he is --   
coming down the hall, entering her office. He comes out and -- the   
tape goes wiggy." Wright sat back after his narration, befuddled.   
The tape shows only static. "Mrs. Nelson said she found her at   
10:00, when she went down to tell her the trucking company said   
the shipment would be late."

"No clear picture of the assailant," Mulder said, pulling his bottom   
lip. "Wright, did this guy have to sign in?"

"You don't think he would use his own name, do you, Mulder?"   
Skinner asked with a touch of disdain.

"No, but it's still worth checking out, don't you think?"

The three men walked up to the reception desk to check the log-in.   
"Here. Logged in at 9:37. Chris Davey, Polarity Electronics,"   
Wright read from the binder. 

Mulder frowned, thinking. "I know that name," he said absently.

"I'll call it in, have a check run on it. But it's probably an alias,   
Mulder," Skinner said doubtfully.

They headed back to Endicott's office, Skinner on his cell phone   
having someone at the Bureau run Chris Davey's name through the   
system. 

Wright stopped Mulder, biting his lip. "Um, do you think Dr.   
Scully would mind doing another autopsy?" he asked nervously.

Mulder sighed. "She'll probably find exactly what she found last   
time, Jeremy."

"I know that. But . . . she was the best -- is the best. I just don't   
want this to end up . . . " He let his voice trail off, clearly upset.

"With no answers," Mulder supplied. "I'll call her. It will take her   
a while; she has to get someone to watch our kids. I'll tell her we'll   
meet her at Quantico."

Jeremy gave him a grateful look. "Sure, that would be great!   
Thanks, Mulder."

"Jeremy, we're close to finding this guy. You're doing a great job,"   
Mulder said, patting the young agent on the shoulder.

"You don't know how much that means to me. Thank you."   
Wright turned away quickly and Mulder felt Skinner's eyes on him.

"Fatherhood has definitely smoothed some of your rough edges,"   
Walter said fondly.

"I had edges?" Mulder shot back, an evil twinkle in his eye.

"Mulder, you were all edges," Skinner returned. "They'll call me   
with that name and they should be able to pull that print off the   
stapler. Shouldn't take long."

Quantico Labs  
4:59

"Where were you?"

Scully's question surprised him, since she was looking intently at   
what appeared to be a shriveled heart.

"I found a computer, I was looking something up. Did you know   
that with the right access code, you can read all our reports to   
Skinner on line?"

"You were reading old case reports?" she asked absently.

"That name just keeps bugging me. I know that name." He rubbed   
his jaw, noting that he needed to shave later if he had any intention   
of kissing his baby daughters good night. Or possibly enticing his   
partner into some other forms of play after the kids were asleep.

"Did you find anything?" she asked, breaking his thoughts.

"No. The reports are there but the search function is typical FBI   
issue -- it sucks."

She pulled her plastic safety goggles off along with her gloves.   
"It's the same as before, Mulder. I didn't find anything different on   
this body. Well, except for something I picked out of her pocket."

She handed him a pink 'While You Were Out' note, blank on the   
front but with one word scribbled on the backside. 

"Polarity," Mulder read aloud, handing it back to her. "Polarity."   
He swallowed hard, realization coming to him in a split second.   
"Polarity, Scully. Polarity."

"It means intrinsic polar separation -- "

"I know what it means," he said with exasperation. "Think back.   
An investigation we did as a favor for one of your old students,   
Kelly Ryan?"

"Oh my god," Scully gasped as she looked at the word on the paper   
again. "But Mulder, the word Polarity doesn't mean -- "

"It was the name of the company. Chris Davey was one of the   
partners at Polarity Magnetics -- the one not taken away right from   
under our noses. I'm going to do some checking, employment   
histories and the like -- "

"Mulder, why don't you let Agent Wright do the checking," Scully   
said, hands on her hips.

He chewed on his upper lip before reluctantly answering. "Yeah,   
you're right. OK, I'll have Jeremy look at the employment records   
of the victims. But if he finds anything, I can tell him to call us?"

She shook her head in affectionate vexation. "Yes, if he finds   
something significant," she stressed the last word, "he can call us --   
in the morning. But right now, I'm going to change and then we're   
going to call Tony's so that the pizza is ready by the time we get   
there."

Crystal City Place  
6:05 pm

Mulder juggled the pizza while Scully dug the key out of her   
pocket. The door opened before she had a chance to put the key in   
the lock.

"Pizza!" shouted William and proceeded to run around the room in   
a circle.

"We don't get carry out pizza much, no one wants to deliver all the   
way out to our place," Mulder explained to Maggie as he deposited   
the pie on the table. "But Dana has become quite the pizza chef   
instead."

"I'm listening. You better tell this straight," came his partner's   
voice from the other room.

Maggie chuckled. "Well, I'm sorry I can't convince you to come   
home and have Italian Beef with us -- Tara's been cooking it all   
day."

Scully came out of the bedroom, in casual clothes, a baby girl on   
each hip. "We're pretty wiped out, Mom. But what about   
tomorrow? What time is the game starting? Should we meet up at   
your place or arrange to meet at the ballpark. I know parking can   
be a problem sometimes."

"Let's meet up at the house and then we'll figure out how many   
cars we'll need. The game starts at 3:05, but we better get there   
early. Why don't you come for lunch around noon and we'll figure   
the rest out from there?"

Scully shot a look to her partner. He tilted his head and she   
nodded slightly. "Yeah, I guess that would work. We'll be at the   
house at 12."

"Dana, would you mind walking me to the car?" Maggie asked   
suddenly. Another look was exchanged between partners, this   
time Mulder smiled in reassurance.

"I'm going to see what Will's gotten into. The upstairs is way too   
quiet all of a sudden," Mulder announced, taking both of his   
daughters. He leaned over to accept the kiss Maggie placed on his   
and the babies' cheeks. "See you tomorrow," he promised her.

With her partner's footsteps echoing on the stairs, Dana turned to   
her mother. "OK, Mom, you got rid of Mulder," she said with a   
sigh. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Dana, what on earth is going on? Now, I don't mind watching the   
children, I'm so happy to have them close so I can do this, but   
calling me in the middle of lunch, I'm supposed to drop everything   
and run down here to babysit -- Dana, what am to think?"

"Mom, Mulder's been helping a young Agent -- "

"Helping an agent? You mean he's been working at the Bureau?   
Dana, is that wise? I didn't think he left on very good terms, even   
before -- well, you know."

Scully drew in a fortifying breath. "Mom, he's doing it as a favor   
to Walter. It's just one case."

"I mean, if it meant you were thinking about coming home,   
moving back here, that would be one thing -- "

"Mom, our home is in Montana. We have a house, Mulder has a   
job, I'm going to be teaching this fall, we have friends. It's where   
we want to live. I know it's hard on you -- "

"Dana, I don't want to get into another argument. Lord knows   
we've had enough of those these last few days. I'm just trying to   
let you know that I'm worried. It seems when you two get   
wrapped up in these cases, you forget that you have a life outside   
the investigation."

It wouldn't have felt so much like a slap in the face if she hadn't   
been thinking the same thing herself. "I know, Mom. It's just --   
the Bureau, our investigations -- were our lives for so long. It's   
hard to just turn our back on them." She felt totally helpless to   
explain it to her mother.

Maggie looked at her with such concern and cupped Dana's cheek.   
"It's what brought you together. But it's not what is keeping you   
together. It's time to move past the lives you used to lead."

"I know, Mom. We both know that."

"But acting on that knowledge is sometimes harder than just   
admitting it," Maggie said sagely. "Look, you go enjoy your pizza   
before it gets cold. I'll see you all tomorrow."

As her mother left, Scully closed the door and leaned against it.   
She'd told her mother the truth, as far as she felt. It was her partner   
that was another matter. She'd have to talk to him soon. Maybe   
moving past their old lives wasn't what he had in mind. She   
pushed off the door and went to the foot of the stairs, calling him   
and the children down for dinner.

Chapter 10 Exigency

Crystal City Place  
June 8, 2005  
5:05 am

Scully felt the bed shift and was vaguely cognizant of the cool air-  
conditioned breeze against her bare shoulder. "Where are you   
going?" she asked sleepily as she saw Mulder tiptoeing around the   
bedroom.

"Going for a run, I'll be back in half an hour."

"No more pancakes, Mulder. Bring back bagels," she said around   
a yawn and snuggled back into the blankets.

"Your wish is my command," he grinned as he leaned over and   
kissed her ear. "Love you."

"Love you, too," she mumbled, or something that sounded like it.   
She was asleep again before he left the room.

A quick peek in on the occupants of the other two rooms showed   
that both twins were still fast asleep and William was out for the   
count. Mulder made quick work of tying his shoes, stuffing his   
driver's license and his keys in his pocket and headed out the door.

After Maggie left for Baltimore, Scully had told him about her   
mother's concerns. Mulder could have seen that one coming, but   
he didn't. Life was so much easier when 'family' was two thousand   
miles away, not seeing every little thing you did wrong. He hadn't   
really had his family looking over his shoulder since he left for   
England. It was hard coming to terms with this bunch of people   
he'd been peripherally aware of now being drawn closer as an   
extension of his and Scully's little nuclear family unit. They might   
not be married, but it sure felt like he was having 'in-law troubles'.

Maggie was just worried that they were getting sucked into the FBI   
again. Mulder could understand that concern, hell, he shared it.   
But the fact remained that he really did feel it was necessary to   
help Agent Wright in any way they could. The kid was green but   
he had good instincts. More than that, he was interested in the X   
Files. The threat of colonization might be permanently on hold,   
but that wasn't the only case in those file drawers. They had plenty   
of just plain weird cases to show for their trouble. Plenty of weird,   
dangerous cases. Remembering a few as he jogged up one of   
Georgetown's quaint side streets, he shuddered. It was a wonder   
he and Scully were still alive. No wonder Maggie didn't want   
them getting involved in that again. He felt his resolve building   
with each passing mile he ran, but at the same time, the thought of   
leaving Wright's case behind made his gut wrench. He couldn't do   
that, he couldn't leave without knowing. 

'You're chasing your tail,' he thought as he crossed a street at the   
light. He spied the little bakery in the middle of the block and was   
relieved to see there was no line. He jogged inside and told the   
young lady behind the counter what he needed. As he waited for   
his order, his mind was still on the case. 

If he could just help Wright figure out who was killing these   
people, they could all relax and enjoy their vacation. How hard   
could it be when the killer left his name on a log-in sheet? But   
he'd called Wright at the office and found that Chris Davey had   
fallen off the face of the earth right about the same time as Kelly   
Ryan's death. Had the man changed his name, gone into hiding   
after his friend turned murderer? 

Or was there another explanation? He and Scully had seen a   
shadow, all that was left of a body exposed to dark matter, on the   
wall of the particle accelerator. But whose shadow was it? They   
had assumed it was Chester Banton. What if that was what they   
were supposed to believe?

He was deep in thought as he rounded the corner to go back to the   
condo. He had to get back to the office, read the report he'd   
submitted to Skinner about Chester Banton all those years ago.   
Maybe there was something there that could help him find the   
answers.

The elevator was stuffy and by the time he made it to the 17th   
floor, he was itchy and in definite need of a shower. He slipped   
the key into the lock and stepped into the foyer. Silence.   
Everyone must still be asleep. He dropped the bag of bagels and   
cream cheese on the kitchen counter, stepped over to the phone in   
the living room and quickly dialed a number.

"Jeremy, it's Mulder. Oh, sorry, no I didn't realize it was only 6.   
What time do you normally go to the office? Wow, really? Oh.   
Well, could you move that up a bit and meet me down there in   
about half an hour? I think I have a lead."

He gently returned the phone to the charger and was turning   
around when he bumped into his partner, literally. Scully was   
standing there in her short satin robe and a very dour expression.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, arms crossed and eyes blazing.

"Um, to the shower. Bagels are in the kitchen, I got you a whole   
wheat one." He neatly sidestepped her and started up the stairs. 

"I heard you on the phone, Mulder. You're going to the Bureau."   
She followed him up the stairs, through the master bedroom and   
into the attached bathroom. "What lead do you think you have?"

Mulder was pulling off his shorts and tugged the tee shirt over his   
head. "Scully, remember that investigation we did as a favor to   
Kelly Ryan?"

"The one that got her killed, yeah, I remember," she said, her   
demeanor not softening a bit.

He started the water in the shower and turned toward her,   
continuing despite her stern expression. "OK, after we found Det.   
Ryan's . . . remains, we went to the lab. If you remember, the   
particle accelerator was on and we watched a body disintegrate   
while being bombarded with subatomic particles -- "

"Dark matter, yes. Chester Banton was in the accelerator," she   
said, taking a seat on the counter while he stepped into the spray   
and closed the shower glass door.

"No, Scully, we have no proof that was Chester Banton.   
Remember, Chester had a partner -- "

"Chris Davey. The man who signed into the log in sheet at Benson   
Industries and then killed Mrs. Endicott."

"No, that's what he wants us to think. Scully, Chris Davey is dead,   
he's been dead for ten years. Chester Banton killed Mrs. Endicott."

Scully pulled open the door to the shower, getting wet from the   
water shooting off her partner's body. "Mulder, wherever did you   
get that harebrained idea?"

He stopped scrubbing his underarms to stare at her. "Scully, that   
body was placed in that accelerator expressly for us to find. But   
there had already been an attempt to take Chester Banton, an   
attempt that I assumed was from the consortium. He was lightning   
in a bottle to them, Scully. He could kill with this shadow! You   
know they wanted to find out what he could do to an enemy force -  
\- an alien invasion."

"I'm not following," she said, dropping her robe to the floor and   
joining him in the shower.

"OK," he said patiently, handing her the shampoo when she   
motioned for it. "Someone took Chester Banton from the hospital   
before he could be transferred to county lock up. But Banton   
escaped and headed back to Polarity Magnetics -- his lab. When   
we showed up, Det. Ryan was dead, a body was in the accelerator   
and Banton was missing. We assumed it was Banton in the   
accelerator. But what if it had been Davey in the accelerator and   
the consortium nabbed Banton, this time for keeps."

"The consortium doesn't exist anymore, Mulder. It was   
systematically eliminated by Will's friend," she reminded him,   
pushing his shoulder so he would turn and she could wash his   
back.

"Then what happened to all the people they've been collecting over   
the years, Scully?" Mulder asked quietly.

She gasped softly and bit her lip. The thought had never occurred   
to her. What had happened to all those people? The Eves, Brad   
Wilczek, Cecil L'ively, a lot of people, some innocents, some very   
dangerous. 

"I think I better call Wright," Mulder said, breaking into her   
thoughts. "Maybe I don't need to go to the Bureau. I think I need   
to see what's left of Polarity Magnetics." He opened the shower   
door and stepped out, leaving her still standing there. She watched   
his naked back through the steamed glass. 

"I guess the thrill really is gone," she muttered with a roll of her   
eyes.

"I heard that," he shouted back. "And I have every intention of   
proving you wrong, later tonight!"

She wrapped herself in her terry cloth robe from the back of the   
bathroom door and headed after him. He was already in his boxers   
and a tee shirt; dressing at light speed. "Mulder, wait a minute,"   
she pleaded as he stepped into the walk-in closet, pulling out a suit   
and dress shirt. "Just wait, please?"

He didn't turn to face her, only sighed. He stood looking down at   
the clothes in his hands and shook his head. "What, Scully? What   
do you want?" He still refused to turn and look at her

She reached over and took his hand, pulling him to the bed. She   
took the hangers from his fingers and hung the clothes on the valet,   
then sat down beside him. "I really don't want you to go to after   
this man by yourself."

"I said I'd call Wright," he said casually.

"Mulder, Jeremy is a nice guy, and he'll make a great agent, but not   
yet. And you haven't been in the field for four years. You haven't   
touched your weapon since last summer and you'd be going there   
unarmed today. I don't like it."

"What if I stay on the side lines, just go along with Wright and let   
him handle it?" he offered. 

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Like that would ever   
happen," she muttered. 

"You don't understand," he said, defeat heavy in his voice.

When she looked at him again, his expression caused her to pause.   
"Why do you feel you have to do this, Mulder? Tell me, so I can   
understand."

He chewed his lip, searching for words to explain what he was   
feeling. "It's not that I want to come back to the old life, Scully.   
Please, don't ever think that. But it's like some part of that life is   
still pulling at me. Something feels unfinished and I just want to   
get it over with so we can move on -- so I can move on. I left here   
with you three years ago. I never expected that we'd find   
happiness. I never expected that we'd find William," he said,   
shaking his head. "Scully, I got my heart's desire. But it's all been   
out of place since I went to Oregon. When I got back, Kersh was   
determined to shove me out. Doggett was your partner and even   
though I know you weren't doing it intentionally, you wanted me   
as far away from the X files as you could get me." She tried to   
interrupt but he put a finger to her lips.

"I understand your motives, really I do. You wanted to protect me.   
Hell, Scully, how many times in our life together have you accused   
me of being overprotective? Pot, meet kettle," he said with a sad   
smile. "But the truth of the matter is, I was shoved out before I was   
ready."

"So what about now?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle. "Now, I just   
want to get this case over with because it's the last. I'm ready to   
leave. I just want to go out right."

She fought the tears in her eyes and swallowed to loosen her tight   
throat. "Mulder, when you had to leave us, after Will was born, I   
was left behind. I worked with Doggett and Reyes on some of   
their cases but to be honest, I really had no joy in that. I felt like I   
was just going through the motions. Without you, it was   
meaningless to me." One tear escaped her lashes and she wiped at   
it quickly. "All I wanted was to be with you again."

He shook his head, sure she didn't comprehend what he was saying   
but this time she stopped him with a hand on his cheek. "I left the   
Bureau and the X files. I wasn't forced out. I was happy to go. I   
had my 'last dance'. I understand your wanting to have one, too."

"I'll be careful," he promised. "I'll do this and be back with you, no   
looking back, no regrets."

"Just come back to me," she said, leaning over and kissing him   
soundly. She would have gone further, but the sound in the next   
room stopped them short. "You get dressed, I'll put on the coffee   
and toast those bagels you bought." 

She rose from the bed and started for the door, but he caught her   
hand and she stopped to look at him. "I love you, you know that,"   
he said, his voice full of emotion.

She smiled at him, love and amusement in her eyes. "Yeah, I   
know that. You better know it, too."

He was able to match her grin. "Never doubted it."

Pennsylvania Avenue  
Washington DC

The city streets were pretty deserted at the hour of 6:30 am, so   
Mulder had little trouble finding a decent parking space. He   
bounded up the door to the Hoover Building and knocked on the   
glass. Luckily, the guard was someone who remembered him well   
and smiled brightly as he opened the door.

"Agent Mulder! I do declare! Oh, wait, it's 'Mister' Mulder, I hear   
tell. So, how is Agent, er, Miss Scully? I heard through the   
grapevine you two have a brood now."

"James, you still moonlighting for the CIA?" Mulder teased as he   
signed the visitor's register and accepted a pass. 

James laughed and shook his head. "Oh, Agent Wright called, said   
he'd be a little late. Told me to have you go on down to your old   
office, he'll catch up with you shortly. I guess you know the way?"

"I can probably remember it," Mulder replied with a wink. "And   
I'll tell Scully you asked about her. For the record, we have   
William and twin girls, Melissa and Samantha. Hardly a 'brood',"   
he tossed over his shoulder.

"Man, you're just gettin' started!" James retorted as Mulder   
disappeared into the elevator car that would take him to the   
basement.

He flipped on the light and was once again amazed at how little   
had changed. He recognized most of the banker boxes lining the   
hallway, many of them yellowed with age. Files of little note,   
interdepartmental memorandum, extra copies of the employee   
newsletters, all awaiting records retentions schedules that had   
passed them by decades ago. "One match," Mulder mused aloud   
as he made his way to the door in the middle of the hall.

Obviously the Bureau saw no need to lock an unoccupied office,   
Mulder put his hand on the knob and found the door opened with   
ease. Again hitting the light switch, he walked over to the desk   
along the opposite wall, where he used to sit. As he sat down in   
the chair, he noted that it wasn't his old desk. His desk's bottom   
drawer never closed properly and had a mismatched drawer pull on   
file drawer. This desk was near the same age, probably first issued   
around the time of Elliot Ness.

He leaned back and put his feet firmly on the desk surface.   
Memories danced in his mind. 'Do you believe in the existence of   
extra-terrestrials?' 'Given the distances needed to travel the far   
reaches of space . . . ' Mulder chuckled as he remembered his   
partner, just a slip of a woman, a girl, really, all prim and   
professional and so damned beautiful --

"Make yourself at home," came a voice from the doorway.

Mulder startled and almost ended up on his ass for his trouble.   
Finally getting his feet to the floor and grabbing the desktop in a   
death grip, he regarded his intruder. "Hey, Walter. What are you   
doing here so early?"

"I still work here," Skinner said dryly, stepping forward and   
slouching comfortably in the chair at the other desk. "Gathering   
wool?" he asked, a look of concern in his eyes.

Mulder smiled. "Old times," he replied. "Does this thing work or   
is it a really cheap paperweight?" he subtly changed the subject   
and nodded toward the computer at his right elbow.

"It works. What do you need?"

"Access to our old files. Reports I sent to you. Are any of them on   
the system?"

"Should be," Skinner answered, frowning. "How far back?"

Mulder winced. "About 10 years."

Skinner shook his head. "I have a folder on my personal drive."   
He waved Mulder out of the chair, booted up the machine and   
accessed his files. "Here. Now promise me you won't go hunting   
around the system using my password. I have 8 months until   
retirement and Kim is hoping that she won't have to support the   
both of us on her salary."

Mulder chuckled. "I just want one file, Walter. As a matter of   
fact, I can find it, print it out and we can shut the sucker off." He   
glanced at the heading and frowned. "Laffoday? What kind of file   
folder name is that?"

"One I created when I got your first reports. I thought it very   
appropriate," Skinner replied, crossing his arms. His whole   
demeanor screamed at Mulder to challenge his comment.

Mulder stared at his friend for a moment and then turned back to   
the computer. "Ah, you filed them by case number. This should   
be easy." In seconds he had the right file on the screen and   
gleefully hit the print button. "One thing you have to give   
bureaucracies -- they know how to keep arcane shit!"

"I'm so happy you approve," Skinner responded dourly. "Mulder,   
about what I said the other day down here. I don't want this to   
cause you and Scully any trouble -- "

"Scully and I are fine, Walter," Mulder said with a faint smile. "I   
just need to get a few things out of my system. But believe me, if   
you're looking for someone to move in down here -- I'm not your   
man. Scully and I have a very nice life out in Montana and I'm   
finally realizing how much I miss it."

"As long as you know what you're doing, Mulder," Skinner said,   
clearly not too sure he did.

Skinner left Mulder to his own devices, with one last warning glare   
as he exited the room. Mulder poured over the report, a grin on his   
face, letting the memories overwhelm him. The year was 1995.   
He remembered clearly the time of year, the color of the coat   
Scully wore, the way they chattered all they way out to Richmond.   
The baseball season had just started and Scully refused to let him   
listen to the pre-game show, insisting on tuning in a static-heavy   
edition of 'Performance Today' on National Public Radio. He had   
been so damned glad to have her in the car, even six months after   
her return, that he let her have her radio station until they lost it   
just south of the exit for US 17, but she found another classical   
channel and they'd listened to that the rest of the 2 hour trip.

He remembered his excitement when they began the investigation.   
One man missing, only a black scorch mark on the floor.   
According to the report, and to his memory of the day, Scully had   
been the one to suggest the scorch mark could have been burned   
human remains. It was one of those moments that would always   
remind him just how much he loved his partner. Skeptic to a fault,   
yet with a mind as open as the wide Montana sky.

Flipping through the pages, he finally found what he was looking   
for. At that moment, Wright arrived looking somewhat like he'd   
just stepped out of the shower and thrown his clothes on. "Sorry, I   
got held up in traffic, believe it or not," he said breathlessly, setting   
his Starbucks cup on the desk and looking over Mulder's shoulder.   
"Is that the latest autopsy?"

"No, it's a report from an old file, but one that I think we need to   
revisit, or in your case, visit for the first time." Mulder stood up   
and stretched. "Have a look."

Wright settled in the offered chair and after a few minutes, looked   
up at Mulder. "So the guy at Benson Industries who signed in and   
then killed Mrs. Endicott was involved in one of your old   
investigations. But when I ran his name, I came up with nothing   
for the last 10 years."

"I know," Mulder agreed.

"You think he was hiding all that time?" Wright asked.

"No. What came out of those prints on the stapler?"

"I'm supposed to get those first thing this morning," Wright   
replied, looking at his watch. "Which is in about an hour."

"Wrong," Mulder said with a grin and handed Wright the phone.   
"Call the lab. I'm betting they have the results, they're just waiting   
for you to come get them."

Wright looked dubious, but placed the call. After a few 'uh-huhs',   
he hung up and regarded Mulder. "How did you know -- "

"I always kept weird hours, Wright, but I quickly discovered the   
geeks up in the lab kept even weirder hours. They like to work   
when the building's deserted. That's when no one can catch on to   
their voodoo practices." He shooed Wright toward the door, the   
young man still giving him questioning looks. "Hurry up. Time's   
a wasting."

Wright was back in under ten minutes. "They had it, but they   
weren't happy," he said, tossing the folder down on the desk.

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked, picking up the folder.

"They told me the prints are from a dead guy. Dead a long time,"   
Wright said, dropping into the chair in front of the desk with a tired   
sigh. He ran his hand over his face and shook his head. "A dead   
end."

"Chester Banton," Mulder read from the pages in the folder. He   
looked up and smiled at Wright. "Agent, have you ever known a   
dead guy who could melt a stapler with his hand?"

Wright shot Mulder a look. "Maybe the prints weren't clear   
enough. That has to be a mistake."

Mulder shook his head in the negative. "No. No mistake. This is   
what I thought we'd find. C'mon, we don't have much time."

"Where are we going?" Wright asked as he stood to follow Mulder   
to the door.

"Richmond, a little industrial park that was once home to a particle   
accelerator. If I'm correct in my assumptions, that's where we'll   
find Chester Ray Banton."

Going Home: Chapter 11 Seeing You Again in all the Old   
Familiar Places

New World Industrial Park  
Richmond, VA  
June 10, 2005  
9:15 am

A weather-beaten For Sale or Lease sign greeted them at the end of   
the drive. Weeds were already pushing up the asphalt of the once   
expansive parking lot. Ivy ran rampant along the concrete planters   
and up the smooth exterior of the structure. The sun glared off the   
windows, but as Mulder looked at the building, he could see where   
several seals were broken, allowing moisture to give the glass a   
smoky appearance. The place looked like a futuristic ghost town.

"You said there was a particle accelerator here?" Wright asked, a   
little taken back.

"Yeah. It was sort of hidden in plain sight, for lack of a better   
term. They had it in a lab on the third floor," Mulder replied.

"And you think this guy's been holding up here?"

"Just a hunch, Jeremy. He's got no place to go. You read the file.   
I don't think he needs 'soft light' any more. I think he just needs to   
be completely away from people."

"Well, this is sure the place for that," Wright muttered just under   
his breath. "Shouldn't we be calling for back up?"

"We don't even know for sure if he's up there," Mulder pointed out.   
"Let's take a look around first. You call out the cavalry too many   
times to chase wild geese and they aren't so fast to show up when   
you really need them."

Wright looked worried, but reluctantly nodded.

The front door was padlocked. Mulder looked around and   
motioned for Wright to follow as he headed to the back of the   
building, away from the parking lot. A rust-stained pad of cement   
showed where dumpsters had once stood. A grey service door   
rested in the middle of the concrete wall and Mulder approached it.   
Crouching down, he fingered the seam of the door right next to the   
functional metal handle. "It's been jimmied," he said to Wright   
and then tugged on the handle. "This is how he's getting in."

Wright reached to his back and unsnapped his holster. Mulder   
waited patiently and then pulled the door open, stepping into the   
darkened stair way just inside.

Only the light from the narrow windows gave any illumination, but   
Mulder could hear a faint hum that seemed to echo off the cinder   
block walls of the fire stairs. Motioning with his index finger, he   
pointed up. Wright nodded and followed Mulder up the steps.

At the first landing Wright stopped and motioned toward the door   
that led to the office space. Mulder looked up the steps, certain   
that they would find Banton on the third, and top, floor of the   
building. Still, it was only good procedure to check out all the   
floors. Grudgingly, he allowed Wright to take the lead and they   
systematically began searching the first floor.

All the doors to the offices stood open, all the spaces vacant of   
furnishings. A few light covers hung down from the ceiling and a   
cracked window had let rainwater stain a patch of carpet. Beyond   
the occasional pile of rubble left in a vacated office, there was   
nothing to be found.

The second floor was a little more revealing. In one of the offices,   
obviously an executive suite, they found a pile of blankets on the   
floor. Cans of soda and bottled water littered the area, as well as a   
few empty fast food bags serving as trash bins. "He's been here   
recently," Mulder noted, showing a wet ring on the bookshelf   
when he lifted a soft drink can.

"You think he's still here?" 

"Do you hear that hum?" Mulder returned and Wright nodded. "I   
think he's managed to connect the accelerator to the electrical grid   
again."

Wright walked over to the wall and flipped the light switch.   
Nothing happened. "I don't think the power's on in here."

"The accelerator pulled so much power it was on its own   
transformer," Mulder replied.

They made their way up to the third floor. The hum was louder   
there and the air crackled with electricity. The hair on the back of   
Mulder's neck raised in warning. "Jeremy, I think we may want   
that back up now," he hissed as he stood staring at the door on the   
opposite end of the long hallway.

Wright pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. Putting the   
phone to his ear, he shook his head and then brought the phone   
down to look at the display. 

"Shit. No service."

"Probably from that," Mulder said, pointing to the strobing effect   
of lights coming from the window of the far door. 

"Maybe I can get reception outside. Just stay put," Wright ordered   
and quickly headed back down the stairwell.

"Yeah. Sure thing," Mulder muttered, creeping further down the   
hallway. When he made it to the door, he threw himself flat   
against the wall and then shuffled closer. As he reached the door,   
it suddenly opened. A gloved hand grabbed him around the neck   
and he was pulled into the room amid the surreal light show.

"Agent Mulder," the shaky voice rasped. "Long time, huh?"

"Dr. Banton, what are you doing?" Mulder growled. He reached to   
take hold of Banton's hand around his neck, but the scientist   
pushed his hand aside. 

"You don't want to risk touching me, Agent Mulder," Banton said   
sadly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You didn't mind hurting those other people," Mulder pointed out   
as Banton slowly let go of his throat. He was shocked at the   
scientist's appearance. The man had been haggard when they'd   
found him ten years ago but the skeleton standing before Mulder   
could barely stand. His eyes were red-rimmed, as with a drug   
addict, but Mulder knew that wasn't the case. In those eyes he saw   
a madness that comes from living with terrible, unending pain.

"Those other people deserved what they got," Banton said   
cryptically. "Do you know what I've been through, Agent Mulder?   
The tests, the torture? Every day to wake up hoping that it might   
end, that all the pain might finally kill me. And then, they didn't   
come. I thought they'd forgotten me. After a couple of days in my   
prison, I found I could escape. They had vanished, every one of   
them. So I left. I wasn't afraid of my shadow anymore. They had   
successfully harnessed my 'powers'," he sneered. "They turned me   
into a monster, more of a monster than I'd already become! So,   
finding myself on the opposite side of the world, I got on a ship   
hoping to make it home. When that quake and tsunami hit -- "

"It changed your power. The disturbance in the earth's magnetic   
field disrupted your own magnetic field."

Banton rewarded Mulder with a small grin. "I always knew you   
were smart, Agent Mulder. No one else on the ship felt the quake,   
we were on the high seas and we sailed right over it. But I felt it.   
It knocked me unconscious. When I came around, I knew what I   
had to do."

"You killed a person on board," Mulder interjected.

Banton nodded sagely. "It was an accident. But it was a fortuitous   
accident because it alerted me to my new powers. And it allowed   
me to formulate my plan."

"All those people you've murdered, they were all involved in your   
work here, weren't they?" Mulder asked, watching Banton move   
toward the instrument panel along the wall.

"I thought at least one of them would have made inquiries. At   
least one of them would have given a damn what happened to me.   
But no one did. No one."

"They thought you were dead," Mulder tried to explain. "They   
thought you'd been disintegrated by the dark matter."

"Oh sure, that was the easy out. Where was Chris? I suppose he   
got rewarded for betraying me," the scientist hissed.

"Actually, I think he was murdered for his part in your abduction,   
Dr. Banton. I think his body was the one placed in the accelerator   
for Agent Scully and me to find."

Banton swallowed hard and shook his head. "No matter. It's over.   
I can leave now."

"Leave? And go where?" Mulder asked.

Banton favored him with a dead-eyed smile. "Where I should have   
gone a long time ago. I'm just sorry you're going to be making the   
journey with me." He turned and flipped more switches, the hum   
in the room becoming much louder.

"Banton, what the hell are you doing?" Mulder demanded.

"Finishing the clean up, Agent Mulder. There will be a big hole,   
but nothing will remain of the monstrosity I've become. Maybe   
some will learn their lesson." He walked calmly over to the door   
and pulled off the glove on his right hand. Taking hold of the   
knob, his touch effectively welding the door closed.

"Wait!" Mulder cried. "I don't want to die! I'm not ready to die! I   
have a family!"

Banton threw his head back in a bitter laugh. "That was very   
foolish of you, Agent Mulder. Don't you understand? They take   
everything! Your life, your work, your loved ones. They take and   
take and take and all you have left is the hope of ending it all.   
That's what I'm giving you -- hope that death will be better than   
this hell I've been living for 10 years!"

"No!" Mulder yelled. "Look Banton, I thought that way once, too,   
but it doesn't have to be like that. I thought they took everything,   
first my sister and then my father and my mother and the woman I   
love, my son, everything. But I got most of it back. I got back   
more than I'd lost. Please, I don't want to lose what I finally have!"

Banton looked over at the counter on the wall of instruments. It   
read 20 seconds and counting. "There's no time," he said with a   
sad shake of his head.

"Get this door open! Please, there's time. We can make it. You   
can make it. We'll figure something out!"

After a moment's thought, Banton walked over to the door.   
Grasping the handle, he pulled with all his might. The door tore   
from its welded lock with a scream of abused metal. The opening   
wasn't large, but it was enough for Mulder to squeeze through.

"Come with me," Mulder pleaded, as he crawled through the   
opening. 

Banton smiled and shook his head no. "This is my life, my wish.   
You go back to yours."

Mulder raced to the stairwell, the hum so loud in his ears that he   
feared for his eardrums. He hit the door to the fire escape running   
dead out and grabbed the top railing just as the explosion hit.

Jeremy Wright was standing in the middle of the forgotten parking   
lot, trying to get someone to listen to him. "Look, we have a   
dangerous fugitive cornered in a building on the edge of   
Richmond. Send a SWAT team -- "

The blast knocked the young man off his feet, sending him sailing   
through the air to land in a heap some five feet from where he was   
standing. Horror blossomed on his face as he took in the building,   
now crumbling before his eyes. "Mulder!" he cried out and ran   
around back toward the door they'd found open. As he ran, he   
disconnected the previous call to the Bureau and dialed 9-1-1.   
"This is an emergency. There's been an explosion at the New   
World Industrial Park in Richmond, Virginia, on Staples Mill Road   
about two miles south of the I-64 interchange. Send fire and   
ambulance, we have at least one man, possibly two inside. Hurry!"

St. Mary's Hospital  
5801 Bremo Rd.  
Richmond, VA  
3:45 pm

Scully hit the Emergency Room like a small invading force, her   
mother and Charlie close behind her. Walter Skinner was standing   
in the waiting area talking to Agent Wright. Without issuing a   
greeting, Scully got to the point.

"Where is he, what's his condition?"

"Dana, settle down. The ambulance just got him here. The doctors   
are still with him, no one is telling us anything," Skinner tried to   
appease her.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded, spinning to level her   
glare at Jeremy. "You said there was an explosion?"

"We went to the building that used to house Polarity Magnetics.   
The place looked deserted but the back door had been jimmied   
open. When we went inside there was a hum -- an electrical hum,   
like under high power lines. We went up to the third floor and we   
could see lights coming from one of the offices at the end. Mulder   
told me to call for back up but there was no reception up there. I   
went down to the parking lot; he was keeping an eye on the door in   
case Banton decided to leave. While I was on the phone, about   
five minutes later, the place went up." The young man was trying   
so hard to look professional, but it was obvious that he was shaken   
to the core. 

"I lost my father when I was 9, Ms. Scully. If I had any part in   
this, so help me God -- "

"Jeremy, you did every thing you needed to do," Scully assured   
him. She turned to Skinner. "Where was he found?"

"In the stair well, according to the Fire Department. They had to   
remove a lot of rubble to get up to him. He was pinned by some   
fallen I-beams and there was glass from the overhead lights. They   
wouldn't give me any word on his condition, they just loaded him   
as fast as they could and came here. The site of the explosion is a   
madhouse, Homeland Security and the Nuclear Regulatory   
Commission are duking it out in the parking lot but the Fire Chief   
told me there was no radioactivity noted in the area Mulder was   
found. They couldn't get closer to the lab and no one could find   
Banton. I gave up trying to find out more and followed the   
ambulance here. Dana, I'm sorry we couldn't reach you sooner."

"We were at the ballpark," Scully said, the words catching in her   
throat. "He was supposed to meet us there. I was starting to get   
worried, I'd just tried his cell phone when you called."

A nurse opened the double doors leading back to the examination   
area and Scully saw her opening. She ran through the door, almost   
knocking the poor nurse over in her haste. She looked around   
wild-eyed and saw an orderly moving a gurney with nurses and   
doctors surrounding it.

"I'm looking for Fox Mulder," she called, hoping to be heard over   
the noise of the busy ER.

"You can't be back here, Miss. You have to go to the waiting   
room," the nurse she'd plowed into was taking her arm and leading   
her back toward the door.

"No, please, where is Fox Mulder. Please, I need to see him," she   
tried again.

One of the nurses accompanying the gurney let loose of the bedrail   
and walked toward her. "Are you his wife?" she asked.

Scully couldn't breathe for a second. The words wouldn't come.   
"I'm -- I'm his -- "

"I'm sorry, unless you're immediate family, you have to wait in the   
lounge outside. Someone will be out to talk to you shortly."

"He's the father of my children," Scully murmured, tears streaking   
down her face as she watched them move the gurney into the   
elevator and disappear from sight.

"Miss, you have to leave, now," the first nurse said sternly.

Scully bit her lip to keep from crying out. Her chest was so tight   
she thought sure she was having a heart attack right there. She   
stumbled through the ER doors and into the waiting arms of her   
mother where she finally succumbed to her sobs.

6:45 pm

With only a modicum of Federal intervention perpetrated by   
Assistant Director Walter Skinner, the small band of people   
awaiting word on Fox Mulder were allowed up to the surgical   
floor. The waiting room was nicely appointed, with comfortable   
chairs and couches and a big screen television. The TV was tuned   
to CMT, the country music channel -- a choice made by Scully's   
brother Charlie after the CNN headline news had replayed the   
explosion in the deserted industrial park one time too many for the   
family's mental health. Last report had listed two casualties from   
the explosion and Maggie had been the one to tell Charlie to 'turn   
the damned thing off!'

Scully had stood for almost the whole time, staring out the   
window. When Bill arrived just before 7 o'clock, he was the only   
one brave enough to approach her.

"Tara and Karen have the kids at Mom's for now," he said quietly,   
not daring to touch her. She was standing so stiff, her arms   
wrapped around her torso; he couldn't help but think her muscles   
would be sore in the morning.

"Thank you. Thank you for taking care of them for me, Bill."

Her brother nodded, swallowing hard. "They'll be fine, Dana.   
Every thing will be all right."

He immediately regretted his words, afraid she might take offense.   
But her face crumbled and she drew in a sob. "He can't die. I love   
him too much. He can't die," she said through her tears.

Bill wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her to him.   
"He won't die. He loves you that much, too," he said, kissing her   
head.

"Oh Billy," she sobbed. She was about to say more but he put a   
finger to her lips. 

"He's a good man, Dana. I can see how much he loves you, how   
much he loves the kids. He's not my first choice for a brother-in-  
law -- or whatever. But you never were that interested in football   
players and I think Drew Brees is probably a little young for you,"   
he teased. At her confused look he grinned. "Quarterback for San   
Diego."

She grinned back at him through her tears. "To be honest, Mulder   
would probably want me to hook up with someone from the   
Redskins, if anyone. That way he could get tickets to the games."   
She pulled away a little and looked back to the door leading to the   
'consultation rooms', where the doctors met with the families of the   
patients after surgery. "I just wish we'd hear something."

As if on her word alone, the door opened and a nurse in blue-green   
scrubs stood in the doorway. "Is there a Ms. Scully here?"

Maggie stood, but Dana smiled and shook her head. "I'm Dana   
Scully."

"We received a fax from the FBI. Apparently, as far back as 1995,   
you hold Mr. Mulder's medical power of attorney?" the nurse   
asked.

"Yes, I did -- I do," Scully stammered. 

"The doctor is available to speak with you now. If you'll just   
follow me."

Going Home: Chapter 12 This Diamond Ring

St. Mary's Hospital,   
Richmond, VA  
June 11, 3:45 pm

Broken ribs, a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, a ten inch gash   
running down the length of his left calf that required 20 stitches to   
close and some minor internal bleeding, but all in all, Mulder had   
escaped the jaws of death and then some. It came as a surprise to   
everyone but Scully when the doctor announced his intention to   
move Mulder out of ICU and into a private room. Only Scully   
realized that it wasn't just Mulder's amazing recuperative powers,   
but the collective noise from the gaggle of people who had invaded   
the Intensive Care Unit's Family Lounge that was the attending   
physician's motivation. Either way, she was eternally grateful. 

Just before lunch, she asked her mother to stay with Mulder while   
she ran back to DC and grabbed a few things from the condo. He   
had been in and out all morning, waking disoriented at first   
because of the temporary deafness caused by the blast and then   
falling back to sleep the minute he saw she was with him. The   
doctor had finally ordered a stronger sedative and Scully was   
certain he wouldn't be awake to miss her so she took her leave.   
She was back in just under 4 hours.

"You barely had time to get there, sweetheart," Maggie chided as   
her daughter nudged her out of the chair next to Mulder's bed.

"Didn't need much time. Just needed to pick up some things."

"Things?" Maggie inquired.

"His toothbrush. His cordless razor because he hates feeling   
scruffy in the hospital. Things," Scully replied, not looking her   
mother in the face.

"Well, I'm going to check on everyone. Do you think the children   
will be able to visit tonight? They really miss you."

"If Karen doesn't mind dragging them all the way down here, I   
would love that, Mom. I miss them so much. Mulder might be   
awake enough to see them, too." 

Maggie patted her daughter's arm. "I'll go call her right now and   
make the arrangements. Bill got a couple of rooms at the Comfort   
Suites just down the road last night, maybe you can stay there with   
William and the girls tonight."

"We'll see how Mulder's doing," Scully replied. In her heart she   
knew he was doing much better and that he'd escaped more serious   
injury, but she was still loath to let him out of her sight.

Scully had just fallen asleep, or so she thought until she noticed the   
shadows from the window. Long fingers were caressing her hand.   
She smiled, her eyes still closed, when those fingers lifted her hand   
to his bruised and swollen lips and placed a tender kiss on her left   
ring finger.

"Did I miss a memo?" he rasped, his eyes at half-mast staring at   
her as he always did when he was still groggy from injury and   
drugs. He ran his thumb over the diamond ring on her finger.   
"This is new. Who gave it to you?"

She opened her eyes and smiled at his playful expression. "A   
guy," she replied haughtily.

"A guy. A nice guy? A good-looking guy? A guy you want to be   
shackled to for the rest of your life?"

"Well, I don't know about the shackles," she teased in return.

"He probably got that ring from the Republic of Cubic Zirconia,"   
he joked.

"Not from what I could gather," she said, scooting forward so he   
could see her lips as she spoke. His hearing was slowly returning,   
but the doctor had said there would be a ringing in his ears for a   
few days. "I found the receipt, it most likely set his bank account   
back a few months. He might have even given up some of his   
more erudite magazine subscriptions to pay for it."

"When did you find this?" he asked, lifting his eyes from her hand   
to her face.

"The night I came back from the beach," she said. "I was all set to   
be angry with you for caving to Bill's demands until I read the date   
of the receipt and found out that you'd had it for 8 years. Then I   
had to rethink a few of our conversations," she said with a raised   
eye-brow. "I guess you really were lucid when you told me that   
you loved me. I should have remembered that drugs wouldn't have   
impaired your faculties that much."

"I was too much of a coward to give it to you," he said sadly.   
"There were a thousand different times through the years when I   
would start to get it out, to give it to you and then something would   
happen and we'd be off again on another case. I could never find   
the right time. And then in Montana -- "

"I didn't want to get married when we were living assumed lives,   
Mulder," she said softly, hushing him with a finger to his lips.   
"And what I said back then, I meant. I've always felt married to   
you."

He kissed her fingers and then took hold of them, drawing their   
entwined hands back to rest on the bed. "So what changed your   
mind all of a sudden? Or do you just want to show the ring off to   
your brothers?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes, but a hint of   
wariness hiding behind it. The wrong answer would be his   
undoing, she was certain.

"Fox William Mulder, father of my children, love of my life, my   
partner in law and in crime, will you marry me?" she asked,   
keeping her voice as steady as her roiling emotions would allow.

"Before I answer that, I repeat my question," he replied. "Why   
now, Scully?"

Her face broke, tears coursing down her cheeks. He started to   
comfort her but she pushed him back, away from her gently. She   
swallowed hard and finally won her composure. "When they   
brought you in, they wouldn't let me see you. I wanted to go to   
you, back in the ER, but they stopped me. I couldn't even say I   
was your partner, or that I was your doctor. The nurse asked if I   
was your wife. I tried to tell them that you're the father of my   
children, but it didn't matter to them. I had no standing in your   
life, at least in their eyes."

He started to object, but again she stopped him. "Mulder, I'm not   
saying I suddenly need this now to prove something to myself or   
even to my family. I'm saying that I want the world to know and   
understand that you are my life, and I'm yours. I don't ever want to   
be in a position where a fax from a federal law enforcement agency   
is the only thing that gets me a seat by your bedside."

He frowned at that and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I don't   
want to know what you're talking about, and I'm not trying to be   
obstinate. I just want to make sure we're doing this for the right   
reasons. I don't ever want you to think you were forced into   
getting married."

She snorted a bitter little laugh. "I think we're pretty far away from   
the barn for the horse to think it was forced through the door, don't   
you?" she asked. Then she grew serious again. She turned his   
hand over in hers so that she was stroking his palm. "Mulder, I   
almost lost you again yesterday. And it's happened so many, many   
times in the past that you'd think it would be old hat. But it isn't. It   
never is. It almost killed me to go through it again. But there was   
another factor this time -- we have a little boy and two little girls   
who almost lost their daddy and the right to every legal protection   
they would have if we were married. That got me thinking about   
why we hadn't done this before and I came to some conclusions."   
She drew in a steadying breath. He waited patiently. Finally she   
continued.

"I'm a coward." When he started to protest she squeezed his hand   
and he let her finish. "No, Mulder, I am. When things got too hot   
and heavy with Daniel, it terrified me, and rightly so looking back.   
But it started a pattern in my life that has continued right down to   
our relationship. With Jack, with Ethan, with every man in   
between, it wasn't my career I was choosing when I broke things   
off -- it was my fear that made me run. And our relationship was   
so different from the very beginning, I think I fooled myself into   
believing that I'd react differently. Of course, that's true to an   
extent. I've never wanted to run from you, Mulder. Well, maybe   
one weekend in Philly that I still contend was about me and not   
about you -- but I came back. And I was so proud of myself that I   
did come back. I convinced myself that our relationship was so   
unique that it transcended all the usual trappings of romance . . .   
even to being above marriage."

"But you see, it's not, we're not above it. We're a part of it. I see   
Bill and Tara and their kids and Charlie and Karen and the boys   
and I see how happy they are, how much they love each other --   
and I see them proclaim their love to each other every day. How   
can I say that they're wrong and we're right? Maybe we're doing it   
wrong. Marriage is a sign not just for the two people involved, but   
for the world to see. Not just for us, but for my brothers and mom,   
our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren -- "

"Scully, not to interrupt, but how long have I been out of it?   
Because you're scaring me here," he teased.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying this right,"   
she said with a sigh. "What I'm saying is that I can't articulate all   
the reasons I want to marry you. I just want to marry you. It's not   
a one time offer, I'm not asking in the heat of the moment, I've had   
a very long time to think about this. So, I'll ask again -- will you   
marry me?"

"Yes. My answer is yes, today, yesterday, and a million   
tomorrows down the road. Yes, I will to marry you," he said,   
bringing her hand up to his lips again.

She gave him the smile he continually awoke just to see. He   
reached his hand up to her cheek and guided her down so he could   
kiss her freely. When she finally pulled away he grinned as she   
rested her forehead against his. "Any plans on how we break this   
to the four year old?" she asked teasingly.

"Are you kidding? I'm more worried about how Bill's going to   
react," he shot back. "But if we tell him now, I'm already in the   
hospital."

She laughed. "Well, we can't do anything until you are out of this   
place and back home."

"I don't want to wait till we get back home to Montana. Hey, since   
you popped the question, does that mean I get to plan the   
wedding?"

She gave him a dubious look.

"Nothing involving RFK Stadium, Scully, I promise. It's just I've   
thought about it a lot in our time together and I actually think I can   
do this. I'll use your mom and Karen and Tara as wedding   
consultants, nothing will happen that some female doesn't first   
approve."

"With an offer like that, how can I refuse?" she said, kissing him   
again and again until he yawned in the middle of a kiss.

"I should let you get back to sleep," she told him, stroking his hair.

"Wait, I still need to find out. What happened to Banton?"

She shook her head. "Mulder, let's wait -- "

"Please Scully. Just tell me what happened to him?"

She pursed her lips, but finally acquiesced. "The lab was a hot   
zone, but they were able to get in there with the proper suits. They   
found a body, what was left of it at least. Wright said he was sure   
it was Banton."

Mulder nodded. "It was what he'd come to do," he said   
mournfully. "He couldn't live with what he'd become, what they'd   
made him."

"He almost killed you in the process," she replied tersely.

"No, he was saving me at the end. Scully, you realize he's just one   
of the people who were captured and experimented on by Cancer   
man and his cronies. There are others, and the ones still capable of   
escaping are out there, roaming the streets, potential time bombs   
every one."

"Mulder, I thought you said this was the last dance."

He looked startled. "Scully, I wasn't talking about us or even just   
me. I'm going to tell Skinner I'll file any report he thinks the   
Director might listen to, a report to recommend the re-opening of   
the X Files office with Agent Wright as the Agent In Charge."

She smiled broadly at him. "Those are pretty big shoes you're   
asking him to fill, Mulder."

"Are you saying I have big feet, my love," he shot back and then   
grinned. "I think he can handle it. As long as Skinner starts   
looking now for a partner for him. Maybe more than one." 

"A whole battalion?" Scully mocked. "I mean, who could possibly   
replace us?"

"Laugh it up, former g-woman. If I'm right, poor Jeremy is going   
to need all the help he can get. Speaking of help, am I gonna be   
out of here in time for Walter and Kim's wedding?" he asked with   
trepidation.

"We'll see," she said with a Mona Lisa smile.

St. Patrick's Cathedral  
The   
Washington DC  
June 25, 2005  
1:55 pm

"It's too tight," Skinner complained as he tugged at his collar.

"It's perfect," Mulder assured him. "You're talking, you can   
breathe, it's straight, don't mess with it."

"I thought you were supposed to be my best man, not my mother,"   
Walter groused, but emotion behind the words was light hearted.

"If I were your mother, you'd be in deep shit," Mulder returned.   
"Now, can you do my tie, Walt."

With one arm in a sling and still using a cane, Mulder was pretty   
incapacitated in getting the final touches to his attire. When   
Walter quickly did the ascot at his neck, he patted him on both   
shoulders, causing a slight wince from the former agent. "Take a   
look, how'd I do?"

Both men stood in front of the mirror and surveyed their   
appearance. Skinner, in a grey morning tux with tails, looked   
years younger than his usual dour self. If anything, he looked like   
a nervous young groom. Mulder, in a black tux with tails, made a   
striking counterpoint and smiled at his older friend. "Relax, Walt.   
You're only getting married."

"You just wait," Skinner growled. "You'll see." He tugged lightly   
at his collar again. "I thought these things were looser." As if   
suddenly remembering something vital, he shot Mulder a panicked   
look. "You have the ring, right?"

Mulder smiled and produced Kim's wedding ring, fitted neatly on   
his pinky finger, just past the first knuckle.

"If that finger swells in this heat, I'm sawing it off to get to the   
ring," Skinner charged.

"I hope I'm not this snippy at my wedding," Mulder muttered as he   
looked at his watch.

"What was that?" Skinner growled.

"Show time!" Mulder announced, waving to his friend as he   
limped out the door that led to the altar.

The church was enormous and Mulder looked around slightly   
awed. The stained glass windows softened the glaring sunlight and   
created a cascade of hues down the aisle. He smiled as he saw   
Scully coming toward him, a pale salmon tea length gown,   
gathered at the waist, off the shoulders. Following her down the   
aisle came Kim in a radiant white wedding gown, but Mulder only   
had eyes for his partner. Partner, lover, next of kin and very soon   
to be wife.

The wedding passed in a blur. Mulder was happiest to see how at   
ease his good friend Walter was after the ceremony. Kim smiled   
and seemed to glow with an inner beauty as she stood beside her   
best friend and now husband, cutting the cake. The reception was   
a formal affair at the Washington Hilton, the cake alone, complete   
with a working fountain and garlands of fresh flowers, easily cost a   
week's salary at even the Assistant Director's level. Mulder had   
mentioned how impressed he was by the show, but Walter   
confided to his friend that he'd been putting money away for   
something for a long time -- now he had something and someone   
to spend it on.

The bride and groom left for the honeymoon suite just before 11   
and soon after, Mulder escorted Scully back to the condo, where   
they had the place to themselves, the children spending the night at   
Maggie's.

"That was a beautiful wedding," Scully said with a sigh as Mulder   
puttered around in the bathroom.

"What? I have the water running," he called out to her.

"I said, that was a beautiful wedding," she said, going to the door   
to see what he was doing. She smiled as she saw his endeavors.   
The bathtub was almost filled with warm water and bubbles;   
candles were strategically placed around the room on every flat   
surface. "My, my, my. To what to I owe this pleasure?"

"We are sans small children, you were so absolutely gorgeous   
today I thought I'd have to run down to the Y and take a cold   
shower halfway through the ceremony . . . and I don't really think I   
need a reason," he ticked off on his fingers.

She grinned at him and stripped off the last of her clothing, he   
joined her and they both slid into the soapy, fragrant water.

"You're going to smell like vanilla all day tomorrow," she warned.

"I've smelled like worse," he countered and proceeded to wash her   
back in slow, lazy strokes. "So, you really liked the wedding?" he   
asked, just a slight hesitancy in his voice.

"Didn't you?" she returned.

"Oh, it was fine. It was great. It was -- "

"Not us," she supplied and he kissed her shoulder in reply.

"Not that we couldn't do that, mind you," he said quietly, now   
paying attention to her shoulders and arms.

"Mulder, that wedding took months to plan. Kim told me they   
lucked out on the church because another couple eloped. They had   
planned on getting married at a church near Tinley Circle, but   
opted for St. Patrick's when it was available. Even so, they've had   
the Hilton booked since last October."

"So you're saying you doubt my ability to pull off a big church   
wedding with a sit down reception? That sounds like a challenge   
to me," Mulder said quietly.

Scully turned in his arms and put her hands on either side of his   
face. "Hey, I said it was a beautiful wedding. Not that I wanted   
one just like it. You promised you were planning this wedding and   
I want to see what you come up with. No cheating by copying off   
the Skinners. Hear me?"

He smiled at her, kissing soap bubbles off her nose. "You're sexy   
when you boss me around."

"Oh yeah?" she growled, she straddled him. "I'll show you 'bossy'.   
Come here, you love slave!"

"Be gentle now, I've been recently injured," he said between   
kisses. It was the last comment either of them made for a long   
time.

Going Home: Chapter 13: I thee wed

The Beach  
Ocean City, MD  
July 8, 2005  
6:00 pm

Seagulls played with William and his sisters and his cousin Matt as   
they scampered near the surf under the watchful eyes of their   
grandmother. Three men stood in tuxedoes with the pants rolled   
up, feet bare on the sand, careful not to step too close to the   
encroaching water of the shoreline. It made for an odd picture, but   
this was a private beach and no one really took notice.

"You think they skipped out on it?" Bill proposed as he stared off   
toward the house and the glare of the setting sun.

"How could they? We have their kids!" Charlie shot back.

Walter chuckled but Bill was still concerned. "All I know is half   
my 401K is going to go to pay for these damned tux's if we stand   
out here any longer. The salt spray from the surf is -- "

"They're here," yelled Nate from the deck of the house.

Maggie, Tara, Karen, and Kim exchanged silent glances and   
smiles. Ben, with Nate's help, rounded up the children, including   
little Julia in her carrier and assembled them in some order along   
the path out to the shore. "OK, everybody, remember, toss the   
flower petals, not the baskets," Ben warned. Two little boys   
exchanged sullen glances and then nodded at their older cousin.

The groom was the first to arrive, pulling off his sneakers and   
leaving them on the deck. He was dressed in a black tux, as the   
other men on the beach, but his tie was not the same as the others.   
It matched the bridesmaids' dresses worn by Tara, Karen and Kim.

Mulder ruffled his son's hair as he passed, picking up each of his   
daughters to place a kiss on their cheeks before placing them back   
in the line up as tiny princesses waiting for the queen. The girls   
wore taffeta dresses selected by their aunts to match the colors of   
the bridesmaids, with little crowns of flowers from the bride's   
bouquet encircling their heads. "Daddy," Melissa said, giving   
Mulder a big wet kiss on the nose. 

"I love you, too, baby," Mulder said with a wink. "But I have to go   
marry your mommy right now. We'll have a party in just a few   
minutes."

Jeremy, with a very pretty young woman at his side, was the next   
to arrive, followed shortly by a young priest whom Maggie greeted   
warmly. Mulder walked over and shook the man's hand.

"Thanks for coming, Father Michels," Mulder said. 

"Hey, always happy to do a wedding," Michels remarked.   
"Besides, Father McCue, who sends his love and prayers, bet me   
25 bucks that I'd get here and it would be a hoax. I took his bet   
and now I'm $25 richer, after the ceremony of course."

"Don't ever let the evils of gambling get in the way of a good joke,   
Father," Mulder replied dryly, casting a glance at Maggie trying   
desperately to hide her laugh.

The young priest smirked and looked around. "So, we're just   
waiting on the bride, I take it?"

"She's inside, but she'll be coming out in just a minute." He   
signaled Ben, who had spent the better part of the afternoon   
arranging and rearranging the sound system. 

"I got it, Uncle Fox," he said, leaving the receiving line in Nate's   
hands so he could start the music. Mulder had to smile, he'd put   
the boys in charge of the music and almost expected Green Day or   
some underground alternative band to come blaring over the   
speakers. He was pleasantly surprised to find their tastes were   
more eclectic than the usual teens. They had a very nice selection   
of classical and baroque pieces that they had insisted he had to   
preview. He'd immediately approved all of their choices. 

The first selection came to a close and the opening notes of Jesu,   
Joy of Man's Desiring filter to the assembled group on the gentle   
breeze.

Mulder was gripped with a memory. Sitting on a beach, watching   
a child play with his parents. He looked over at his own children --   
Missy and Sammi wide-eyed and listening to the music float over   
them, hand in hand as they had since they could take their first   
steps. Will was giggling at something Matt had said until a look   
from his big cousin Ben reminded him he was had a part to play   
and was supposed to be quiet. And then, at the door, stood a vision   
in white.

He never thought they'd get to this day. So many times fate had   
intervened and almost snatch her from him, or him from her.   
When he'd come back, from his abduction, 'death' and burial, he'd   
been so confused and so lost. But she was always there. Over   
protective to the max, but also willing to let him worry, let him   
search to find the meaning of their miracle. Then he'd had to leave   
her and the precious boy now kicking sand on his older cousin.   
Mulder's heart wrenched when he thought of that lonely year   
without both of his loved ones.

They hadn't talked about it, everything they'd lived through in the   
dark times. It was their way. But sometimes the shadows of those   
horrible experiences weighed heavy on them both. Now, watching   
her look at him from the steps of the deck, he truly felt like they'd   
come to the end of a long and arduous journey, that they'd at last   
found their truth. It had been hiding in each other, all that time.

He hadn't seen her wedding gown. He'd teased her about that, but   
she'd insisted. He was planning the wedding, but she was picking   
the gown. She found it in a resale shop in Georgetown. It was   
pure white, cinched at the waist as befitting her tiny figure. The   
skirt was full and seemed to dance around her in the gentle breeze.   
Instead of a veil, which she'd assured him would have blown off in   
the wind, her hair was secured away from her face with a clip and   
cascade of tiny silk roses. She was a vision. She was his vision.

The bride walked barefoot out on the deck. She smiled at the   
assembled 'honor guard' as she walked through. Sammi and Missy   
looked up and smiled at her and Will gave her a toothy grin.   
Suddenly remembering they had jobs to do, the children, her son   
and daughters and nephews, tossed pink rose petals at her feet. A   
few stuck to her dress, but rather than brush them off, she hoped   
they would stay. They looked like they belonged on it. Just as the   
song came to its conclusion, she joined her beloved at the sea.

The honor guard followed the bride to her groom and everyone   
gathered close to hear the words of the priest and the betrothed   
above the pounding of the surf. As the ceremony ended, and the   
groom kissed his bride, the water came forward and lapped at their   
feet. Everyone dove for higher ground except the newlyweds, who   
were so lost in each other they didn't notice the cold water that   
covered their feet and ankles. The two partners broke the kiss and   
looked at each other for a long moment.

"Scully, what is it about you that makes me not mind being 'all   
wet'?" Mulder quipped with a tilt of his head as the tide continued   
its journey to the high water mark several feet toward the beach   
house.

She laughed and tugged at his hand. Together they dashed to the   
deck, kicking water and sand in their wake. 

The party continued long into the night. Mulder had rented the   
house from Bill's friend for the weekend, so when little ones grew   
tired they were carried off to bed so the adults could continue the   
festivities. As the stars came out, couples started to wander out   
onto the sand, going for moonlit strolls along the shore. 

At one point in the evening, Mulder found himself standing at the   
railing of the deck, watching the surf in the moonlight. He could   
hear his bride, the thought making him smile, talking animatedly   
with her sisters-in-law about pre-schools and on-line shopping. He   
didn't notice that he wasn't alone until the other person cleared his   
throat.

"Bill," Mulder said, startled. "Sorry. I didn't see you come up."

"S'OK," Bill said. "Need another?" he asked, nodding toward the   
beer in Mulder's hand that rested on the railing. 

"Nah, I think I've hit my limit. She gets mad at me if I have too   
many," he said, tilting his head in Scully's direction.

"Yeah. Tara's the same way. Only time I get to cut loose now is   
on shore leave -- and even that's getting fewer and farther between.   
Just not the same when you're on the down side of 40."

Mulder nodded in agreement. It was the most civil conversation he   
could ever remember having with his brother-in-law. That thought   
gave him pause. Bill and he were now 'officially' family. Would   
wonders never cease?

"Thanks for coming today," Mulder blurted out, for no particular   
reason except he could think of positively nothing more to say to   
the man.

"Yeah, well, couldn't miss it, now, could I? I just wanted to say,   
well, we've had our disagreements in the past -- "

It was everything Mulder could do to keep from spitting his   
mouthful of beer out on the sand below the deck.

"and I still can't see what she sees in you. But I guess that's not   
really up to me, is it?"

"No, Bill, but I'm grateful you realize that," Mulder interjected.   
Bill seemed so concentrated on what he wanted to say that he   
probably didn't hear the comment, or at the very least understand   
its meaning.

"So, anyway, if you guys ever need anything, I mean San Diego is   
closer to Montana than Baltimore, so we could be there faster, ya   
know?"

Mulder regarded the man next to him and realized what was   
happening. He was being accepted into the family. He had to bite   
his lip to keep from crying. 

"Thank you, Bill. That goes both ways, I hope you know."

"Well, Tara and I were talking and we'd like you guys to come to   
San Diego for Christmas. I mean, we don't have a lot of room in   
base housing, we'd have to put you up in a hotel -- "

"Not a problem. The kids have never seen the Pacific. We'd love   
to come. I'll let Scu -- Dana and Tara can figure out the details.   
We'll be there."

Bill then lifted his hand and put it on Mulder's shoulder. "Take   
care of her . . . of them."

"Always," Mulder replied. When Bill left, there was still a warmth   
where his hand had been and it spread through Mulder's whole   
body.

Mulder had just about decided it was time to take his bride to their   
room when Charlie stepped up.

"So I hear you're spending Christmas in San Diego," he said with a   
wry smile.

"Yeah, well, Bill offered," Mulder demurred.

"I must say, that takes guts, Mulder. I mean, you and Bill, Tara   
and Dana, just the two families -- "

Mulder choked so hard he couldn't respond. Charlie broke into   
laughter. "Boy, you are soooo easy! This is gonna be fun!"

Mulder started breathing again. "You Scullys have a very wide   
mean streak, I'm discovering."

"Seriously, we'll all be there at Christmas, Mulder. Wouldn't make   
you take Bill on during the holidays all by yourself. No one should   
have to face his eggnog French toast alone."

"Eggnog French Toast?"

"Yeah, and don't try telling him you're a vegan. He doesn't use real   
eggs in the batter."

"I really don't want to hear this right now, Charlie," Mulder said,   
his stomach doing a slow roll.

"Well, I just came by to say we're probably shoving off early   
tomorrow, noon or so if Karen has her way."

Mulder regarded the younger man and put his hand on his   
shoulder. "It's been great getting to know you, Charlie. Even if   
you do have a terrible sense of humor."

"It's great having you in the family, Mulder. Takes some of Bill's   
heat off me for a change," Charlie shot back.

As soon as Charlie left the deck, Mulder started looking for Scully.   
She was giving her mother a kiss on the cheek as Maggie departed   
for her bedroom. He took the opportunity to give Maggie a good   
night kiss, too. Then he took Scully's hand.

"Hey, can a groom get his bride to take a walk on the beach?" he   
asked.

"Let me see, I have to check my social calendar," she teased, but   
took his hand and they stepped down the stairs and into the sand.

"It was a beautiful wedding, Mulder. You did a great job."

"Thank you," he said, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. She   
smiled at him as he broke the kiss and they continued walking   
close to the surf so the waves lapped at their feet.

"It's so beautiful here. I'd like to come back sometime," she said   
wistfully.

"How about next summer?" he asked.

"It will probably be rented next time, Mulder. We can't always be   
this lucky. I'm shocked you were able to get it for this weekend on   
such short notice."

"About that, Scully. Um, you know how I was intending to get rid   
of my parents properties?"

"Yeah. That's what you did all day Wednesday at your lawyer's,   
right?"

"Well, yes, sort of. Actually, I was at the lawyer's and Bill's   
friend's real estate office."

"What are you stumbling to tell me here, Mulder?"

"My lawyer said that if I sold the properties out right, I would be in   
for a huge tax liability. But if I took the money and purchased   
other property -- um, -- "

"You _bought_ this beach house?" she squeaked.

"Yeah. And Walter's condo in the city. Between the West Tisbury   
house, the Greenwich house and the summer place in Rhode   
Island, these two properties just about covered my gain. I had a   
little to put in a trust for the kids. We have papers to sign on   
Monday."

"We?"

"It's joint tenancy, Scully. Half yours. My whole estate for that   
matter."

"Mulder, I don't know what to say! That is a huge beach house -- "

"Seems we all just fit in it, though. Look, it will be for family   
gatherings. I want Will and the girls to know their cousins, Scully.   
And maybe sometime we could convince Joe and MC to bring   
their kids out for a week on the beach. The rest of the year Rick   
will manage it like he does now as a vacation rental. But we get   
first dibs any time we want, of course,"

"But Walter was renting the condo," she pointed out. "How did   
you buy it?"

"Easy. I talked to the owner. She's a sweet little lady and not   
really that excited about finding a new tenant as good as an   
Assistant Director of the FBI. She's more interested in moving to   
Phoenix to be near her grandchildren. She told me I was doing her   
a favor. And this way, we'll always have a place close to your   
mom's when we come out." He hesitated for a moment and looked   
out to the ocean. "Unless you want to stay out here," he said   
softly.

She cupped his cheek and turned his face so that their eyes met.   
"We have a home. It's on a mountainside in Montana. But I   
appreciate the gesture. I have to say that I'm a bit overwhelmed,"   
she said thoughtfully.

"Nothing is in black and white yet, Scully. We can tear up all the   
papers. No deal goes through without your signature -- "

She stopped him with a kiss. "I love the idea," she said. "Mom   
will be thrilled, of course."

"Good."

"Bill will be absolutely green," she added with a twinkle in her eye   
that wasn't from the moonlight.

"Hey, icing on the cake," Mulder shot back hugging her close.   
"Shall we head back?"

"It's awfully full in that house tonight, Mulder," she said taking his   
hand and walking backward, pulling him away from the waves.

"What are you suggesting, my wife?"

"Well, I loved your beach wedding. How about I show you my   
beach wedding night . . . "

Beach house  
July 9, 2005  
6:50 am

They thought they were sneaking in before anyone was awake, but   
Maggie met them at the door with cups of coffee and a wicked   
grin. "Have a nice night?" she asked.

Mulder bit his lip and then remembered he had nothing to be   
ashamed of. "Yes, a very nice night. We even took a quick swim   
this morning."

"Well, you two better go take a shower before everyone else gets   
up. Sand has a way of sneaking into the most uncomfortable   
places," she said with a perfectly straight face.

Scully tried to hide her grin with her hand, but Mulder just bowed   
and headed off to the shower, doubling back to grab Scully's hand   
and take her with him.

Charlie, Karen and the boys were the first to leave. Charlie had to   
get back to port and Karen wanted to get Ben ready to leave for   
school in the fall. There were tearful goodbyes, but not unhappy   
ones and Maggie was excited that Ben would be close enough to   
come to see her some weekends.

Bill and Tara packed up next. They'd collected all their belongings   
from Maggie's the day before and were ready to head to the airport.   
Mulder offered to have them stay another day, but their flight time   
left them no options. Bill hugged his sister while Tara hugged   
Mulder. Then while the women were hugging, Mulder offered Bill   
his hand. Bill shook it firmly and then pulled Mulder into a brief   
hug. "You're family now. Get used to it." Mulder could only nod.

They stayed at the beach another week and then did all the things   
in Washington that Will had been promised -- the National Zoo,   
the Smithsonian, all the monuments at night. The little boy loved   
it all and solemnly vowed that he'd do it all again next summer.

Before they knew it, it was time to leave. Maggie swore she   
wouldn't cry, but Mulder made no such promise. Tears were in his   
eyes as he hugged her goodbye.

"Goodbye Fox. I'll see you at Bill and Tara's at Christmas."

"You could always come out this fall and visit, Mom. The aspens   
on the mountain are beautiful in September," Scully offered.

"I might just take you up on that," Maggie said, wiping some errant   
dampness from her cheek. "Damn these allergies! I didn't have   
this problem at the beach!"

"Just call Rick any time you want to go out there, Maggie," Mulder   
told her. "It's your place, too."

"I'll miss you all so much," she said, hugging them each in turn.   
And then they boarded the plane and were on their way.

Epilogue

Walmart Super Center  
August 5, 2005  
7:15 pm

Joe and Mulder were in their usual aisle of the store, looking at the   
end of the season sale on grills and grilling equipment.

"So you go on vacation, end up getting involved in an old case, get   
blown up, end up in the hospital and renew your wedding vows on   
the beach. Oh, and buy a condo and a beach house, just for the hell   
of it. Man, you lead a very strange life," Joe said, shaking his   
head.

"It's not like I planned any of it, Joe," Mulder assured him. "Well,   
except for the vows on the beach." Mulder and Scully had decided   
not to go into too much detail about the circumstances of their   
nuptials with their friends in Montana. Renewal of vows seemed   
the most innocent of possible fabrications.

"So this kid, this Agent Wright. He'll be replacing you and Dana   
on those closed down cases?"

"Yeah, Walter called me right after we got back. The Director   
approved the reopening of the X Files and Wright's assignment to   
them. Plus, they already have a partner for him. Walter says he's a   
pathologist."

"The partner's a 'he'? Guess they learned that lesson, huh?" Joe   
laughed.

Mulder ignored the obvious jibe. "Jeremy's a good agent. And   
since Walter hand picked his partner, it will be a good fit."

"So, if he calls, are you going to lend a hand again?"

Mulder looked over at his friend. "If I can help out by email, yes.   
If it requires me to travel five feet from my front porch, no. I'm   
out. I told Walter as much before we left."

"Right answer, former G-man. You don't need any more trips to   
the hospital." Two arms wrapped around him from behind and he   
looked over his shoulder to see Scully smiling at him. He turned   
on his heel so he could put his arms around her waist.

"That last dance was a doozy," he said with a smile. "I have too   
many other things to keep me occupied."

"Oh, such as . . .?" she inquired.

"Wondering where our children are, if they aren't with you," he   
said pointedly.

"Josh has Will in the sporting goods aisle looking at bats and   
gloves and Meg has the girls in the Barbie aisle."

"Barbie? Aren't they a little young for that?" he squeaked.

Her knowing smirk was all the answer he was going to get on that   
one. "So, what else do you have in mind to keep you occupied?"   
she purred, hugging him around the waist and giving his butt a pat   
in the process.

He squeaked again and dropped his eyes to her face. Licking his   
lips, his eyes at a dreamy half-mast, he rested his forehead on her   
forehead. "This smoker over here. Scully, we could smoke our   
own turkey this Thanksgiving!"

She reared back indignantly. "No, Mulder. No more grilling   
equipment."

"But Scully," he whined, "we could smoke hams, too. Maybe take   
one to Bill for Christmas."

"We are not poisoning my brother. Put the idea out of your head   
this instant."

Joe had wandered down the aisle and caught up with his wife. MC   
pointed over to their friends with a jerk of her thumb.

"What are the Mulders doing?" she asked.

"Arguing over a smoker," Joe replied casually.

"Arguing? Why do they look like they're laughing?" MC shot   
back.

"I have no idea, sweetheart. But until they settle down, let's   
pretend we don't know 'em."

The End (until I can think up another reason to visit)


End file.
